


Metonic Ship Week 2020!

by Metonic_Cycle, Sonic-Not-Sonic (UltimateGamer101)



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, Humor, M/M, Metonic Ship Week, Metonic Ship Week 2020, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:40:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 29,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27781645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Metonic_Cycle/pseuds/Metonic_Cycle, https://archiveofourown.org/users/UltimateGamer101/pseuds/Sonic-Not-Sonic
Summary: These are entries for Metonic Ship Week 2020 written by Sonic-Not-Sonic and Metonic-Cycle. We hope you enjoy reading our fics as much as we enjoyed writing them!Prompts:1. Food2. Snow/Hibernation3. Magic4. Crossover5. Space6. Royalty/Assassination7. Failure (Freebie)
Relationships: Metal Sonic/Sonic the Hedgehog
Comments: 5
Kudos: 19





	1. Food

Party time!

Well, _almost_ party time. The party was today, tonight around dinnertime, and it was still late morning. Either way, preparations for a party felt like a prologue for the party itself when he was preparing for it with his loved ones, so Sonic was still feeling energetic regardless of how much time remained until the actual party began.

This time, said loved one was not Tails or Cream or Amy like it usually was when it came to party preparations, but his beautiful 'bot of a boyfriend, Metal Sonic. And no, it wasn't narcissistic to be dating the robot that had been built with him specifically in mind, because Metal was his own person. He'd fight anyone who suggested otherwise, and how he'd fight them would be much more brutal than the fighting that was currently going on... _he_ wanted to decide what colors the cake would be!

"Metaaaaaaal," the dark blue hedgehog whined, leaning into the other's personal space as though the concept of 'personal' didn't exist. "The icing should _totally_ be red. You already got the cake being vanilla- which is _boring_ by the way- so lemme have this! Fair's fair!"

Sadly, his whining and his infringing upon his boyfriend's personal space was not tolerated for long. After pushing his luck and reaching for the food coloring that was going to be applied to the icing, Sonic found himself being spun over into a nearby chair and seated, a warning glare from Metal flashing his way for just an instant before the bot was already back at the mixing bowl. The movement was so fast that the spoon didn't even have time to touch the side of the bowl before it was back in artificial hand, and Sonic ended up staring for a moment, smiling almost dopily at the other.

"Perhaps I would allow you to make the decisions on the coloring if you had any inkling of a fashion sense, but you do not. You tried to wear plaid with wiggly stripes. All of the colors were as bright as neon. You will never recover from this mistake."

Metal's firm shut-down of his wishes didn't quite have the effect intended, as he watched the other's precise movements, admiring the view. There was just something about seeing the other match his speed that got him so happy, even for tiny moments like this one... his gay little heart almost couldn't stand it.

"Hey, I'll have you know that style was actually _in_ fashion when I did it! Your argument is invalid! Gimme the pants, it's my turn to make the decisions!"

A spoon covered in icing was threatening pointed in his direction as he edged closer to the counter, and he paused, gaze flicking between the spoon and the one holding it towards him.

"That style only got into fashion because you _started_ ; it, and a lot of impressionable children decided to emulate their hero. My argument is flawless. _Yours_ is invalid. Now sit down, you shall not decide the coloring of this cake."

With a sniff of protest, Sonic licked the spoon that was still being aimed in his direction, and smirked cheekily at the other's absolutely offended look.

He loved messing with Metal almost as much as he loved the bot himself. Regardless of his enjoyment of messing with his mechanical boyfriend, it seemed that said boyfriend was intent on making Sonic regret doing so in the first place. With one swipe of the spoon, Metal smeared icing across the blue hedgehog's muzzle. "Thanks to you and your saliva," the former badnik went on, moving towards the kitchen sink, "I will have to now wash this utensil. We will have wasted valuable time. As a result, my estimated time of food preparation will be far less optimal-"

" _Meeeeets-_ " Sonic did not have a chance to finish, as before turning the faucet on, Metal shoved the spoon in his face again, smearing more of the icing across his snout. Then the robot moved the offending object away, to the now running water spilling out from the faucet. _'That went well'_ , Sonic thought with some degree of sarcasm.

Licking the icing off his face, and using a finger or two to get what he couldn't reach with his tongue, the hedgehog began to sneak towards the food coloring again with exaggerated movements. With Mets at the sink washing off the spoon, the mixing bowl and its contents were left unguarded, and now was the time to strike. The icing was gonna be red, even if he had to take the rest of the little food coloring bottles and chug them like a college kid at a frat party. It had to be red!

"Sonic," his boyfriend noticed him, and he froze, the warning tone sounding almost dangerous. Of course, he didn't actually stop- after a moment of mutual staring, he slooowly shifted a foot forward, mischief making itself more than apparent in his eyes. "Sonic, I swear to Chaos, if you take one more step, then I will have no choice but to punish you for your crimes against all fair and decent aesthetics."

Considering the other's words, Sonic found a loophole that Metal would probably be proud of, and slid his other foot forward without lifting it.

"Hey," he grinned, when the other looked like he was going to snap. "I didn't lift my foot, therefore I didn't take a step."

The by-now-cleaned spoon was dried off as Metal's displayed eyes narrowed at him, and the bot turned to face him fully, his arms hanging down by his sides.

"The odds that I am going to inevitably slaughter you are increasing," his boyfriend said calmly. "It is not too late to redefine my primary objective yet again."

Considering the other with a slight tilt to his head, Sonic noted that he should probably back off soon if he didn't want to push his boyfriend over the edge, and hummed lightly. The frosting didn't actually _need_ to be red... he just wanted it to be, so it would match Metal's eyes.

"Alright, alright, the pants are yours. But I'll be making something else red in exchange, okay?"

He deliberately relaxed his body out of the exaggerated 'sneaky' stance he'd taken before, to emphasize that he wasn't gonna mess around with the icing anymore, and walked over to the counter normally.

"That is acceptable," Metal responded almost stiffly, before turning back to the mixing bowl and resuming his previous act of stirring the contents. A wary red eye was kept focused on Sonic, however, as the hedgehog did have a tendency of getting people to lower their guards before striking, whether intentional or not.

Sonic tilted head his head further. Metal seemed to be a bit grumpy today, to say the least. "And by the way, I'm not the only one who's committed crimes against 'all fair and decent aesthetics.'" Metal did not stop stirring the icing, so the Mobian felt inclined to continue. "Two words. Butt. Cape."

Metal released a shrill, almost warning beep. "Inaccurate. My cape was attached to my hips, not my _posterior._ Also, for your information it was much more fashionable than your ridiculous pants." He paused, still stirring the icing. "And step away from the counter. I know what you are trying to do, and it will not work."

Sonic took one step away from the counter, placing a hand on one of his hips and bringing forth a teasing grin as he did so.

"It started over your butt, it covered your butt, it's a butt cape. If you didn't want it to be known as a butt cape, you should've made it a shoulder cape."

Stirring a bit more forcefully, at least enough that the hedgehog noticed it, the former badnik 'huffed' by releasing a burst of static from his speakers.

"A shoulder cape would have interfered with a number of things that could not acceptably be interfered with, such as the exhaust of my chest engine and the aerodynamics of my form in flight. The drag caused by the friction of fabric over my shoulders would have been greater than that caused by the fabric over my midsection, as my head and shoulders and chest take and redirect most of the airflow around and away from my lower body. It was simultaneously practical and visually suited for the purposes that it was intended to fulfill."

Humming again, Sonic looked over what his boyfriend called his base form, and considered the differences it had to his Neo form.

"Speaking of, I didn't know the cape had any ulterior 'purposes'. I just thought you wanted it cuz it looked cool and attractive."

The stirring of the mixing bowl's contents returned to normal as the compliment registered, and Metal's eyes returned to their normal shape.

"Well, that was a factor in determining my new look, but I moreso chose it for how others would see it than I did for my personal preferences. As I was intent upon taking the mantle of 'overlord' at the time, a leader over all living things and more, I required a form that was suitably intimidating as well as functional. Sharper edges appear more frightening to organic beings, and may be practically applied to cause damage to them easier than blunt edges do, thus I designed a form that would be sharp in both shape and appearance. However, the sharpness would lose its effectiveness without some softer contrast to be had against it, and so I included some flowing fabric in the form of a cape. Ultimately, I was pleased with the results of my planning, even if I did not utilize that form for much longer than it took you and your- our- friends to defeat me."

The robot looked down at the contents of the mixing bowl, and nodded, taking a smaller spoon from the silverware drawer and scooping up a certain amount of the icing within. After a moment of considering the spoon, a moment that seemed almost longer than it should have been, the bot turned and held the spoon out in his direction with a silently commanding vibe to accompany the order that came from his speakers next.

"Now, taste this, and tell me if it is any sweeter than a perfectly cultivated strawberry."

Sonic took notice of the other's pause, but decided to address it after sampling the icing. So, he leaned forward and licked some of the sweet substance off of the spoon. Then he smacked his lips thoughtfully, as he savored the flavor now washing over his tongue. "Hmm..."

The hedgehog slurped some more off the spoon. After swallowing, he answered, "It's about the same, I think." 

Metal merely nodded in response, moving back towards the sink.

The blue hedgehog decided to use this opportunity to address the bot's unusual behavior this morning. "You doin' alright, Mets?" His gloved hand brushed gently against his boyfriend's armored shoulder pad. Sonic had never been one for physical contact with another person (the only other person he ever really hugged aside from Metal would be Tails), but it was different with Metal. Sonic liked having physical contact with him, even if the touches were just as small as this one.

The way Metal reacted to his touch was normal, and yet not. He went still for a moment, as though savoring the feeling of Sonic's hand upon his shoulder plate, despite the differences in physical senses that the robot had to organic beings. Then he resumed his previous act of rinsing off the spoon that had just been used for taste-testing, pulling away to put the spoon right into the dishwasher. It wasn't weird or out of the ordinary, but something about it felt... _off._

"I am functioning as I usually am, in near-perfect form," the former badnik responded, "though my present 'feelings' are aligned somewhat differently. The act of partaking in the culinary arts with you is pleasing, and yet, I find myself wanting more. Specifically, when I note your expressions, the ones that appear whenever you taste something that is wildly appealing, merely acceptable, or even disgusting to the palate."

It took him a moment to process the shift in the conversation's tone, but Sonic was quick to do so and quick to hold his tongue, as his partner continued speaking.

"The sense of taste is one that I do not possess, and I envy your possession of it. I cannot taste the consumables that I create, and must rely upon the organic beings around me to act as taste-testers for me, referencing and achieving desired flavor levels based upon what they say is comparable to other consumables. I know that strawberries are sweet, and I know that they are around the optimal level of sweetness to be appealing to the palates of most organic individuals, but I do not know what that sweetness is myself. I want to taste things like you do, but I cannot. It makes me feel... unhappy."

Blunt as Metal was, it was still somewhat unusual for the robot to be so up front with his emotions. Most of the time he kept them to himself, showing them with actions more than speaking about them with words, so for him to talk about it now meant that this had already been bothering him for some time.

This would not do. Not if Sonic had anything to say about it. He took a step towards Metal, who was now standing back up after having slid the spoon into the dishwasher's little utensil holder (Sonic could never remember what it was actually called, and at the moment, it was far from being his top concern), this time reaching his hand up to brush the silvery bolt on the bot's cheek. "Hey... Metal. Hey. Look at me, please?"

Metal went still again.

Sonic waited patiently, and eventually, his partner finally complied. He turned to face the blue hedgehog, his normally bright red optics remarkably dimmed, and his digitized 'brows' curving upwards. And Metal could not even look at him. His glowing irises were instead firmly locked on the wall behind his partner. Sonic needed to fix that.

"Mets... I could ask Tails to build a mouth for you- I'm sure he'll need to make other modifications and stuff, and it may take a while. There's probably gonna be some trial and error too, but we'll figure it out." He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Metal's forehead. "I don't want you to be unhappy, Mets. That's the last thing I want."

The former badnik was quiet for several moments, before shifting his gaze onto Sonic's face. It was difficult to tell whether the other was looking at his eyes or his mouth specifically, but it was better than looking at the wall, so he'd take it.

"I appreciate the offer, though I am uncertain if Tails possesses the biological knowledge needed to replicate the gustatory and olfactory systems needed for a full sense of taste. His expertise lies in machinery. That is why I have not brought it up before now..."

His speakers crackling in a replication of a sigh, the robot glanced away for a moment, and then resumed looking at Sonic's face.

"I apologize for bringing down the 'mood', as it were. It would be wise to consult him anyways, and if neither of us possesses the data needed, then there is little stopping us from acquiring said data. Perhaps Shadow may be of assistance in that regard. Though your presence would also be required, as I do not wish to-" he cut himself off, reformulating that particular thought, before resuming- "as I would appreciate your company during the experimentation process."

"You don't need to apologize for anything, Mets," Sonic told him, his voice firm and steady. "If anyone should be apologizing, it's me. I should've noticed that this was bothering you sooner. And... I'm really sorry that I didn't." He continued to rest his hand on Metal's cheek-bolt, rubbing the smooth alloy as he resumed speaking. "I can give Shadow a call, see if he's free to help us out." Sonic's tone became playful as he added, "If he tries to make lame excuses like 'work this' and 'work that', I'll just tattle to Rouge and Omega about him." After making that little joke, he became serious again, going on to say, "I'm just kidding, I'm sure he'd be willing to help. And of course I'll be there with you. I'll be there with you every step of the way, Mets. I promise."

Metal was silent, the only sounds coming from him being the whirring of the many gears and the soft hum of his battery inside his chassis.

"Thank you," the robot eventually hummed, leaning forward a bit and tilting his head to the side to place his cheek fully in Sonic's palm. One of his hands came up to hold the hedgehog's wrist, a loose hold that could be easily broken out of if he felt the need to, but firm enough that he could tell the other was feeling better. "Your care and thoughtfulness are greatly appreciated."

Though the words were formal and kind of generic, Sonic smiled brightly at the other, knowing that the sentiment behind them was more than genuine.

"You don't have to thank me for doing what I'd be doing anyways," the hedgehog responded, rubbing his thumb over the bolt on Metal's cheek. "I want you to be happy, and I'll do my best to make sure you are." A quick smooch was applied to the robot's forehead, and his smile turned into more of a grin as he heard the quiet _zip_ that was made in response. "Now, how about we finish up this cake, so we can get to Tails on the quicker side? I could even eat the frosting right now if we wanna get there even faster~"

"Yes to finishing the cake," Metal interrupted, pressing a finger to Sonic's lips. "No to you consuming the frosting. We will need it to finish the cake- however, if there is any left in the bowl once we have applied it to the cake, then I will let you have it."

Sonic chuckled, rubbing his thumb across the bolt on Metal's cheek once more. "Alright, alright. I'll hold off on eating it till then," he promised. There was a short pause of silence as Sonic simply stared lovingly into his boyfriend's beautiful crimson optics. He meant every word he said- he would do his best to make sure that Metal was happy. It was more than a promise. It was a commitment.

"Perhaps we should return to work," Metal spoke, cutting into Sonic's thoughts, "and finish that cake?"

The hedgehog gave his boyfriend one more smooch, and reluctantly released his cheek, smiling as he turned back to the mixing bowl. His voice and body language then turned teasing, as he reached for a certain something that Metal didn't want added to the bowl's contents.

"You might wanna hurry up then, or I'll get to the frosting before you do, and then it'll be red!"

"Do _not,"_ the robot warned him, swiftly moving in and nudging him out of the way, protecting the uncolored frosting from being tainted by the red food coloring. "If you color this icing red, then I will slaughter you, and it will be red for a different reason. Metaphorically."

"It'll still be red though, so who's the _real_ winner here?"

The scuffle that ensued resulted in three countertops needing to be washed, two boyfriends being covered in the various ingredients used in making cake frosting, and the contents of one specific mixing bowl being colored brown.


	2. Snow/Hibernation

Snow... it was beautiful.

Metal stood out in the yard- which currently was buried under a foot of snow- watching the sparkly white stuff flutter down from the dark grey sky above. Everywhere, the snowflakes fell- on the trees, the small wooden fence off to the side, the house, and on the former badnik himself. In addition to being a beautiful sight, it was also very cold. In his normal form, he would not have been able to experience the sensation. However, thanks to his nanites, with much patience and practice he was able to create a more organic-like form for himself. With it, he could feel things- like the prickly chill of winter now washing over him.

The living android lifted a hand, catching some of the snowflakes. He watched as they melted away in his gloved palm, becoming nothing more than tiny droplets of water.

A thick, heavy blanket engulfed Metal's shoulders from behind. Then a pair of peach-colored arms wrapped around his middle, pulling the blanket so as to better cover his body. And finally, a warm chin settled on his shoulder. Green eyes met red as Sonic said, "You're shivering. A lot. Come on, let's go back inside, hmm?"

"This feeling of 'being cold' is quite f-fascinating," the organic-robot-android stated with a stutter born of the chilly environment, turning a head that had a light dusting of snow on top of it. "I wish to personally discover how it lines up with descriptors such as 'biting' and 'sharp' and 'numbing'. I have not yet been b-bitten, so I am not aware of how exactly it may be biting, b-but for it to be both sharp and numbing seems an interesting contradiction. In addition, the longer that I stand here, the more an illogical warmth seems to grow within me. The blanket f-feels colder than the warmth does."

He found himself being physically led towards the front door as he finished speaking, and did not resist his boyfriend's guidance, his movements being stiff enough that his balance was affected by it. Perhaps it would have been better for him to space out his cold-centric experiments over several sessions, rather than attempting to perform multiple in a single session, but this was something that Sonic already knew about. He had to learn quickly, to catch up in personal experience as well as intellectual knowledge, in order to be the best complement that he could be.

"And that's a sign you've been out here for way too long, my dude. Once you get cold enough for the cold to start feeling warm, it's definitely time to get inside and by some actual heat. Otherwise the instincts and bodily processes for hibernation will start to kick in, and as thin as you are, it's definitely not a good idea to hibernate."

Blinking and breathing slowly, Metal turned his head a bit more to follow the movements of the darker blue hedgehog beside him, as he was seated by the fireplace and left alone there for approximately two seconds. Just as the third second was about to begin, Sonic returned with two steaming mugs of hot chocolate, and set them down to worm himself into the blanket that was currently wrapped around the pale blue hedgehog.

The living android slid an arm around his complement's shoulders, and with his other hand he reached for one of the mugs of hot chocolate. His boyfriend slid it into his hand obligingly, murmuring a soft, "Careful not to spill it."

He merely hummed in response, and held tightly on the mug. His hand was trembling violently from the extremely low temperatures his body had been subjected to from when he was outside. The illogical warmth Metal had felt earlier had been replaced by a somewhat painful "pins and needles"-like sensation, and his hands felt inexplicably hot. Perhaps it was the drastic change in temperature that had been responsible, as it was much warmer inside than it was outside.

"Thank you," Metal murmured, nuzzling Sonic's ear. He paused a moment, and then said, "You spoke of the bodily process known as 'hibernation.' While I am aware of what the state generally entails, I... do not know what it feels like. Would you... would you tell me about it?"

"Yeah, sure thing."

Metal felt one of Sonic's hands brush against his abdomen, and blinked questioningly at him, getting a smile in return.

"So, hibernation is like sleeping really, _really_ deeply, except for a few moments when our bodies instinctively wake up to get some food and drink. We don't need as much during hibernation because our bodies are using less energy- it's probably like your timed standby mode, though we can't just get up in the middle of hibernation and say 'alright, I'm done now'. It lasts for a good few months, using our stored fat as fuel to keep us going, which is why I mentioned how being thin is bad for hibernation."

As the pale blue hedgehog took a small sip of the hot chocolate, rolling the liquid over his tongue to catch every bit of sweetness he could from it, his complement observed him in case his shaking hand was going to betray him.

"As for touching your stomach there, one of the symptoms of hedgehog hibernation in particular is a colder than normal stomach. Other symptoms are things like heavy breathing, which you are kinda doing right now, lack of appetite, which you don't seem to have, an unresponsive kind of lethargy, which you're definitely responsive, and unstable or wobbly movements, which you do have. So that's two out of four symptoms, and your stomach is a _liiittle_ cold, but it's warming up, so two and a half out of five."

Metal blinked again, tilting his head as his complement snuggled closer into his side, pulling the blanket around them more thoroughly in the process.

"Intriguing," the former badnik murmured, fascinated by what Sonic told him. He shifted his position on the couch so the other would be more comfortable while they cuddled on it, then he took another sip of his hot chocolate, again letting the wonderful sweet substance wash over his taste buds. "Have you ever experienced this state yourself? And if so... what was it like?"

Humming, Sonic snuggled closer to him. His complement seemed to be far too absorbed in cuddling with him to pay any mind to his own drink, seeing as he had yet to take a sip.

"Definitely," the darker blue hedgehog responded, "and it was a mixture of relaxing and stressful for me. I used to hibernate all the time when I was a kid, but I had to keep my guard up at the same time because I didn't have anyone watching over me, so it wasn't very restful or safe except for the times that it was... it's kinda hard to explain the balance there. Anyways, for the most part I liked hibernating, which is why I kept doing it even when I didn't really have to. It's like sleeping a really deep sleep, the kind where you pass out after being exhausted to the bone and don't dream at all from how tired you are, and when you wake up at the end, you feel really _alive_ in comparison."

Taking another sip of his hot chocolate, Metal contemplated the other's testimony, and posed the first of another series of questions that came to mind.

"I find it difficult to imagine you remaining still for so long, and enjoying it. Did you stop hibernating because you grew more interested in other things, such as your exploration of the world at large, or was there another reason?"

At this query from the organic android, Sonic hummed again, and answered in the adding-in-extra-details way he usually did.

"Well, I do enjoy exploring and my other hobbies enough to replace hibernation with them, but I actually stopped hibernating because of Eggman. When he first showed up, I still had enough time to hibernate in-between his schemes to take over the world- that's why I was still pretty chubby back then and when we first met, I was keeping up my fat stores for hibernation. But yeah, eventually he got more active and started picking up the pace, and once he started a new scheme before I'd even finished hibernating one year, I decided to stop hibernating so I could focus on keeping the world safe from him. So, the last time I actually hibernated was a scheme or two before you returned from Little Planet. You wouldn't have had the opportunity to gather data on my hibernation from then on, because I wasn't hibernating anymore."

Metal tilted his head, reaching his free hand up to run his fingers through his complement's currently smoothed-down quills. Sonic purred softly in response.

"Hmm," the living android hummed thoughtfully, continuing the soft, soothing motions. "Perhaps... someday when we do finally defeat the doctor, we could..." His face grew heated, and turned red at the proposition he had not yet spoken. He took a deep breath to calm the unconscious reaction to his own thoughts and asked, "Perhaps we could try hibernating together? If... Assuming that is feasible."

The darker blue hedgehog grinned widely at him, and he felt the warmth in his cheeks travel down to his chest as he looked at it, his breath catching for a moment before he began deliberately regulating it at an even pace.

"That sounds great, I'd love to! We'll have to stockpile a bunch of food in preparation, and gain some weight too, which probably won't be a problem once ol' Egghead is taken care of. And Tails and the others are definitely more than enough to keep the world safe without us, especially if they're all working together, so even if something weird does come up while we're hibernating, they'll be able to take care of it!"

Metal nodded, and with such an enthusiastic agreement, found his face cooling down to its proper temperature and coloring. There was another thing he had to ask, though.

"You mentioned that the hibernation of your early years was not very restful or safe because you did not have anyone watching over you. If both of us are hibernating together, then how is it different from hibernating alone, in such terms of safety and restfulness?"

Here Sonic glanced away almost shyly, his grin turning into a softer smile as his own cheeks flushed pink, and the paler blue hedgehog quickly began savoring this rare view of his complement. The mug of hot chocolate in his hand was almost forgotten about, drooping a bit in his grasp, but lacking enough of its contents to avoid any being spilled on the blanket around them.

"Well, while we're out, we'll be sharing a bit of our chaos energy with each other. It's how Mobian hedgehogs know the other members of their families are safe and healthy while hibernating- if there are any problems with someone, then the member of the family that 'hog feels closest and safest with will wake up to take care of them. Usually this person is a parent or other loved one, in this case being a significant other. So, you'll wake up if something's wrong with me... and I'll wake up if something's wrong with you."

Metal's face heated up again, and he pressed his face in his complement's shoulder to hide it, attempting to make the movement casual enough that his emotions getting the better of him wouldn't be obviously seen. The thought of his boyfriend waking up to take care of him warmed his heart, stimulating an increase in its heart rate.

"That sounds efficient as it is..." he paused, trying to find the right word. "I cannot seem to find the word I am looking for."

Pulling his face away from Sonic's shoulder, Metal looked him in the eyes. "Nevertheless... I find your answers to be more than satisfactory. And... I very much look forward to when we will be able to hibernate together." He then buried his face back into the darker blue hedgehog's shoulder- this time purely for cuddling reasons rather than 'trying to hide embarrassment' reasons.

After a long moment, he lifted his head again, crimson eyes locking onto the mug of hot chocolate in Sonic's hand. "If you are not going to finish that, then may I?" he asked, his tone of voice morphing from serious to teasing.

His complement glanced down at the mug in his hand, and Metal saw the instant his expression began to shift towards teasing, before he responded, "Oh, this? I dunno Mets, this is primo hot chocolate right here. Thick and warm and sweet~"

The darker blue hedgehog brought the mug up to his face, and took a slow inhale of its contents, emerald eyes flicking over his face with mischief.

"-and made with some actual melted chocolate in it. I dunno if I can give up such a delicious creation like this one, even to you."

With a gasp of mock offense, Metal leaned back as though to get a better look at Sonic, red eyes scanning the other's form.

"Never have I heard such blasphemy from you before," he murmured. "Not sharing with your boyfriend? Not sharing with _me?_ I cannot say that I am certain that you are truly my complement and not another doppelganger come to schmooze in on what is rightfully his... I must insist you convince me otherwise. Perhaps by, oh-"

The organic android begins to smirk, bringing a hand up to lightly tap the back of Sonic's hand with one finger.

"-sharing this hot chocolate with your most beloved boyfriend in this plane of existence?"

Sonic snorted with laughter, and shuffled around a bit so that way he could rest his head on Metal's shoulder. "Fine, _one_ sip."

Another gasp of mock offense. "Sonic- how could you possibly think that _one_ measly sip would be enough to convince me??" the living android queried, moving his hand to tap the top of his complement's head gently. "If anything, I require at least one third of that drink."

"Now _that's_ blasphemy-"

"Negative," Metal interrupted, the laughter building up in his chest, desperately clawing for release. A giggle escaped his lips, though he quickly covered it up by adding, "I am your most beloved boyfriend in this plane of existence. Therefore, I am entitled to at least a third of that drink. Do not push your luck, Sonic. Continue down this path, and I may raise my demand to _two_ thirds."

Sonic laughed again, and the paler blue hedgehog watched his eyes light up as he did so, a soft smirk upon his own face. It was just so fun to tease his complement, especially when it made him laugh- he felt more than satisfied every time he made his Sonic laugh or grin, because _he_ was the cause of it, and nobody else.

"Two thirds," the darker blue hedgehog exclaimed, "are you nuts?"

As the perfect response was provided almost instantly to him by his vocabulary and appreciation for wordplay, Metal nodded, and replied mischievously, "Nuts _and_ bolts. Now, hand it over, or I may go even further and demand the entire mug."

His complement was the one giving him a faux-gasp now, blue brows rising in a mimicry of offense, green eyes containing enough mirth that even he could see it clearly. "I don't think so," Sonic began, and from that point on the back-and-forth continued.

This mug of hot chocolate was no longer hot by the time its contents were drained by the two of them, but it had served its purpose in other ways- warming them up from the cold as they playfully bickered with each other over it. The chill from the snowy outdoors was shaken off as they cuddled under the blanket together and gradually worked up to wrestling just enough to break a chair, thoughts and possibilities of going into hibernation being postponed for the future...

They were warm and happy inside by the fire, and by the time they were to have dinner together, they had almost forgotten what they were bickering about in the first place.


	3. Magic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We wanted to make this particular fic longer, but due to time constraints because of Metonic Ship Week being so close by that point, we had to end it earlier. _However_ , we do plan on covering the events following this fic in the future, so do keep on the lookout for that.

The wind was blowing.

It howled in the darkness of the night, whistling through the mountains and the trees, whispering with the leaves as it tore them loose and carried them away. Thunder shook the world, and lightning flashed through the dark sky, rain falling and making the form of a certain blue hedgehog more than merely damp... it was Sonic, his sword strapped to his back, his footsteps leaving light impressions in the dirt that were almost immediately filled with mud behind him.

He wasn't supposed to be out during storms such as this one, and he especially wasn't supposed to be in these mountains during a storm, but he relished the challenge of outrunning lightning itself. So far he had dodged five bolts of the natural electricity, attracted to the metal on him and the magic flowing through him, and the tingling feeling of the natural energy brushing over him was exhilarating. A delighted grin was plastered across his face, his eyes wide and wild with life and challenge flowing through them, and he was filled glee as he sprinted through another patch of forest.

Another lightning bolt seemed to approach in slow motion, with how quickly he was moving and how fast his reflexes were, and he twisted himself out of the way once again. It curved slightly to follow him, arcing around a spot he had just been in moments before, but not making contact with him before it instead made contact with a bush beside him. The bush sparked with electricity for a mere instant, blue-white energy dancing over the leaves and making its mark upon them, the smell of burning wood filling his nostrils just before the fire was drenched by the downpour. A delighted whoop escaped his throat at this whole interaction, the power of nature fascinating him and bringing him joy like nothing else could, and he turned to keep running.

The slippery earth beneath him had him sliding as he did so, but he kept his balance as he had been thus far, going down a hill and using his momentum to leap over the river ahead of him.

His landing wasn't ideal, as his feet slid out from under him upon contact with the slippery surface, resulting in him landing on his rear. Mud caked his butt and the backs of his legs, and he pouted a bit at that, before going over to the river and washing it off. The banks were spongy with moss, squelching beneath his hands and feet, but he was in and out with the ease of an adventurer who had been in this exact situation many times before. Gone were the days he had to worry about drowning in mere rivers- the larger bodies of water were what he still had yet to conquer.

Glancing up at the sky above him, he grinned again as arcs of energy jumped through the clouds, and felt the static in the air begin to rise as another lightning bolt prepared to strike.

Sonic crouched low to the ground, his heart still racing with adrenaline and excitement. As soon as he heard the crack of thunder, the dark blue hedgehog was tearing across the landscape once more, leaving a deep trench in the mud as he ran. He could feel the sharp tingle of the jagged streak of electricity as it approached. He whirled around gracefully, his eyes locking onto the lightning. He swung his body low as he skidded across the ground, flinging up mud everywhere. The streak of lightning missed him, and he chuckled softly to himself. That was a _little_ close.

Sonic started to turn around.

The lightning struck the tree next to him. The tree itself exploded into splinters, and whatever electricity had been left over seemed to be amplified as it made contact with the wet ground. Sonic cried out as a horrible, searing hot pain tore viciously through his legs.

Up one leg and down the other, the electricity traveled through his lower body and his muscles seized, holding him stiffly in place as the natural energy ran its course. He collapsed once the last of it had dissipated into the environment, fingers digging into the muddy earth as he gripped onto it and panted heavily, the pain of the lightning strike slowly fading away. Eventually, he felt almost nothing of it anymore, and his breathing returned to normal before the wild gleam from before returned to his eyes.

"I just felt lightning," he murmured, bringing an unsteady knee beneath him and beginning to rise. "I literally just felt lightning, holy Chaos. Ow."

As his hands left the muddy ground and his legs were all that supported him, Sonic found himself pitching forward, and shot a startled glance down at his lower body as he caught himself. He couldn't- he'd thought it was just the cold before, because he'd been getting pretty cold out in this storm, though not enough to leave it just yet- he couldn't feel his legs anymore. They were utterly numb, and he even tried rubbing them and smacking them a bit to try returning feeling to them, but nothing happened.

The gleam in his eyes was replaced by a flash of fear, and then determination, as he thought about his original purpose for exploring these mountains. There were supposedly sprawling cave systems along this mountain range, rumors helped along and somewhat confirmed by the usage of divination magic, though nobody had explored this place in person before. He was going to be the first- that was why he was here.

He knew that there were cave systems all over these mountains, so all he had to do now was find shelter in one, and wait until the storm was over.

"Okay," Sonic muttered to himself, lowering himself to the ground as he dug his fingers into the muck. "I can do this. I can do this." He flung his right hand out in front of him, as far as it could reach, and dug his fingers deep into the slick, wet dirt. "One," he murmured before quickly pulling himself forward. He slumped onto the damp earth, shivering as the chill of the rain combined with the low temperature of the mountains began to seep in further, demanding that their presence be acknowledged.

Sonic ignored them.

"Two!" He flung his left hand up and clawed his fingers into the mud. Then he pulled himself forward again. And then he repeated. "One!... Two!" He repeated again. And again. And again.

Unlike Sonic's legs, which were remarkably strong and could go a _very_ long ways without getting tired, his arms were... another story. It wasn't long before the mobian felt the burning of exhaustion in his arms' muscles. The burning only got worse, as he kept pushing. But staying out here would be a death sentence, no question. So he kept going. He kept crawling as fast as he could- until, finally, he just couldn't move his arms anymore. The burning had been replaced by what felt like lead in his arms, weighing them down.

There was little question of what would happen to him now, now that he couldn't reach cover in a thunderstorm where the lightning was attracted to him... he was going to die. Sonic closed his eyes, trying to control his breathing. _'Stupid,'_ he thought grimly. _'I was so stupid...'_

Another flash of lightning passed by overhead, followed almost instantly by a clap of thunder, and he squeezed his eyes shut tighter... before forcing them open again. He turned his head to try and get as good of a view of the sky as he could without rolling over, his muscles being either too weak or too heavy to do so, his determination manifesting once again. He was stupid for playing with fire and expecting to not get burned, but he wasn't going to hide from the consequences by closing his eyes and feeling sorry for himself. He was going to look this storm in its Chaos-damned eye, and watch it- no, _dare_ it to- try and take him out.

Breathing slowly in and out, he kept his eyes open as lightning flashed overhead, arcing between clouds and striking the forest in various places nearby. The time soon came that he felt the static in the air around him rising once more, his drenched and tired body being a prime target where it lay partially out in the open, having distanced himself from the trees as much as he could to avoid their roots while crawling. His breath caught in his throat, and he felt the urge to _move_ as the world slowed down around him, a bolt of lightning piercing towards him. It was out of his conscious control, how he made one more desperate bid for life, his unfeeling legs and his leaden arms pushing away from the earth beneath them to try flinging him away-

He barely moved more than a foot, but then he felt something curling around his waist, and the world around him changed in a flash.

This time his breath was caught in his throat for a different reason; disbelief, and then excitement, rather than fear. The lightning that had been heading towards him had struck the earth at least thirty feet away from where he was now, and he was looking down at the thing that had curled around his waist, and it was a _tail_ of some kind. Scaled, reptilian, maybe a snake had saved him, a snake that could move just as fast as he could. Nobody had _ever_ matched his speed before, and despite the exhaustion weighing him down, he _had_ to see who it was. He had to see the face of the person who'd matched his speed, who had moved quickly enough to outpace lightning itself like he could...

Green eyes followed the tail towards the body connected to it, past four clawed limbs and up and up, and settled upon the red eyes of the creature before him. Silvery-white scales covered its stomach and the inside of its neck and its lower jaw, blue scales ranging from forget-me-not blue to navy blue protected its limbs and its body and its head, and black scales lined its eyes and traveled down its spine and dotted themselves along its body and tail. He was looking up at a dragon, and it was looking- glaring- down at him, and he wasn't afraid in the slightest anymore.

"So cool," he whispered excitedly, his tired hands gripping onto the tail that was holding him aloft. "You're just as fast as me!"

The dragon's glare morphed into an expression that might've been a mix between astonishment and annoyance as it continued to look down at him. Its throat rumbled as it lifted Sonic up in the air, tilting its head and studying him for a long moment, and it rumbled again as it lowered its tail and the hedgehog in it slightly. Then the dragon began to move slowly as it approached what appeared to be a mountain with a roaring river curling around its side, leading up to a rock ledge the jutted out of the mountain. Water spilled over its edge, creating a waterfall that crashed into a pond from which a stream stretched out, trailing down the side of the grassy hill. In the pond, Sonic could see lily pads, and beyond that, behind the waterfall itself, what appeared to be the entrance of a cave.

If Sonic thought the rain was cold, then the water falling from the ledge was downright freezing.

"H-h-holy Ch-c-chaos," the hedgehog muttered, his teeth now chattering. Having a buttload of cold water dumped on him, as well as the much cooler temperature of the cave, left the poor hedgehog shivering violently. The only source of warmth came from the tail wrapped around his waist, and he wrapped his arms around it, trying to get some of that warmth on the rest of his body. His green eyes flicked about, noting the lit wooden torches attached to the cave's stone walls. The torches' flames crackled softly, and as he and the dragon moved deeper into the cave, the sounds of rain and thunder drifting into nothingness, and he could hear the flames as well as soft thuds of the dragon's paws better.

The tunnel was narrow at the moment, the rock ceiling low enough to where the dragon was walking along in a slight crouch. Soon enough, though, the tunnel opened up a bit, allowing the dragon to walk normally. Or at least, he assumed it was normal. He'd never seen a dragon with his own eyes until now, so he really didn't have much of a clue.

Part of him wondered why a dragon would have torches on the walls of its den, and this was unmistakably its den- large claw marks on the tunnel walls showed the claim it had laid upon this place, as well as the actual reshaping of the caves it had done, expanding them for its own comfort. The air in this area smelled almost exclusively of the dragon itself, sharp and precise and warning of danger; metal and the ozone that came from the conclusion of a lightning strike. What smoke and ashes there were to be smelled was overpowered by the scent of the dragon itself, making it absolutely clear to him that it had been living in this cave system for a long time... but still, why would it have torches set up? Why would it need torches to see anything, couldn't wild dragons see in the dark just fine when they weren't one of those special blind breeds?

A corner was turned, the dragon carrying him into a cavern that was much larger than the tunnel had been, and he had to stop and blink as he saw what was inside. Not only did the dragon have torches in its cave walls, but it had books and scrolls and practically an entire library's worth of literature? No gold or gems or other precious minerals that called to its instincts, only books and the information inside them? That was just... _weird._ This dragon was _weird._

Then again, he hadn't met any dragons before today, so maybe it wasn't as weird as the stories and divination and legends made it out to be. Maybe dragons had more varied interests in hoarding than humans and mobians were aware of. Divination wasn't always accurate anyways...

He didn't really care about that much right now, though, because the warmth of the dragon's tail wasn't quite enough to chase away the cold in the rest of him, and he was beginning to go numb in places other than just his legs.

The dragon set Sonic on the ground and uncurled its scaly tail from around the hedgehog's waist, and at the sudden lack of warmth around him, he flung his arms forward, trying desperately to grab it. Any warmth was better than absolutely no warmth at all- but the dragon's tail was already too far out of reach. However, the dragon plodded to his side and sprawled on the cave floor next to him. With a large, yet gentle paw, the dragon pulled Sonic close to its chest.

He almost gasped at the large amount of heat practically radiating off the winged reptile, shuddering as the feeling began to return to his cold body.

This was definitely better than just the tail. He shuffled closer as best he could, trying to absorb as much of that wonderful, life-giving warmth as possible. And already, his eyelids were growing heavy, closing of their own volition. Sonic's head fell and his body slumped as exhaustion swept over him, and he sank into the pitch-black darkness of sleep.

* * *

Waking up the next morning, Sonic yawned deeply, simultaneously stretching his arms up over his head as far as he could. His jaw snapped shut as his yawn finished, and he pulled his arms back down to his sides, curling up a bit against the cool temperatures that had woken him. He must've fallen asleep roughing it again- probably in a cave of some kind, judging by the hardness and texture of the ground beneath him- and up in the mountains, it was only expected that he'd be feeling on the cooler side after the fire went out. Usually the campfires he set up lasted longer though, especially in natural shelter like a cave; warm, smoldering embers remaining to greet him in the morning, at the very least.

For a few moments, he remained still, and then he opened his eyes.

Sleeping was great and all, but he'd never really been able to stay in bed longer once he'd woken up. His mind was gearing up for action, his body quickly following suit, and so he didn't often feel the need or even the desire to try sleeping more once he woke up. It was just the same here and now, along with the added enticement of exploration to encourage him into wakefulness, and his eyes scanned the dark cave that he was currently in. A steady inhale brought him a foreign but somehow familiar scent, warm and sharp and restless, like ozone and metal combined...

Feeling a bit whimsical, he braced his hands against the ground and pushed himself up with some extra _oomph_ , wanting to leap up onto his feet and get moving as he had countless times before. He had only an instant to realize that he didn't feel the ground beneath his feet, however, before he was falling back down and catching himself with his hands, casting a startled glance downwards despite the darkness around him.

And then, his memories of the night before finally caught up to him, the realization that he still couldn't feel his legs _snapping_ into place like the jaws of a wild beast hungry for its prey.

He shot into an upright seated position, staring down at two particular limbs that he could only just barely see, the darkness of the cave slowly growing brighter as footsteps padded closer from somewhere nearby. The urge to _grab_ them came over him, and he did not resist it, gloved hands closing above his knees and _squeezing_... but still he felt nothing. Oh, he could feel something malleable giving way beneath his palms, like the flesh of a dead animal put up for sale, but that malleable flesh of his didn't have any feeling of its own. His legs were utterly numb, not even accompanied by pins and needles, and all at once a terrible vision of the future loomed before him.

Without his legs, he would no longer be able to explore the world. His wind magic would not bear the responsibility for his movement for long, for the wind itself was free- it would not bind itself to him just so he could remain free himself. It would aid him for his love of it, but it would not replace the limbs he could not feel, and he would be trapped in whatever town he ended up dragging himself to. His friends would eventually look for him, and find him and insist upon taking him home with them, and he'd accept but he would still be trapped. Dead weight, he would be trapped no matter where he went, for it would be his own body that was imprisoning him.

Sonic found his breathing coming in shorter and shorter gasps, as he felt his freedom almost tangibly slipping away by the second, his speed and independence and the very wind itself leaving him behind to rot where his recklessness had made him fall.

A loud snort reached his ears, and his thoughts were cut short. His eyes flicked upward, his gaze meeting that of the dragon's. The dragon who had brought him here. The dragon that had saved him from the storm last night. The dragon that... also hoarded a butt load of books and scrolls. Books and scrolls all filled with knowledge.

Maybe...

Sonic whipped his head to the side, his eyes having now adjusted to the darkness, and there, to his right, lay the many towering piles of paper and leather, all lining the jagged rock wall.

The hedgehog looked back at his scaled host, a spark of hope burning faintly in his chest. "Can I look through your books and stuff?" Crimson eyes narrowed, and a warning was growled at his words. "Please? My legs- I can't feel them. And I think it had something to do with the lightning that struck that stupid tree..."

The dragon looked down upon him, and after a long moment of silence and stillness, moved. Its tail reached around to pick him up as it had the night before, and a sense of discomfort at being handled so easily like this passed through him, but he pushed it aside in favor of the hope that was burning inside him. He gripped onto the tail around his waist as it carried him towards the pile of books that was closest by, between them and one of the exits to this particular cavern... and then right past it. Twisting around, he looked back at that pile of books, and then twisted again to look up at the dragon, a hint of desperation breaking through his fragmented self-control and making its way into his eyes.

Onwards he was carried, through tunnels too dark and curvy for him to get a solid sense of direction, until familiar torches and the light of day came into view from the distance. The sound of rushing water met his ears, and he remembered the waterfall that was covering the entrance of the cave, and his grip on the dragon's tail tightened as much as it could. It was going to throw him out, wasn't it? Of course, asking a dragon anything to do with its hoard was dangerous, he was lucky he wasn't being eaten, but he couldn't just let it kick him out. It would take forever to get to a village from the middle of the mountains, forever to get to the kingdom's capitol and to the capitols of the kingdoms around it, forever to be given access to the libraries that might hold information that might be useless by the time he got to it. He couldn't let the dragon kick him out, not when it might have something that could help him _right here_ , and so he held on tighter.

As he suspected, the dragon tried to drop him on the forest floor beyond the waterfall- it was just as cold as it had been the night before- but he clung onto its tail as it unwrapped from around him and lifted up into the air. His legs dangled uselessly beneath him, but his arms held firm around the slippery scales, even as the dragon tried to shake him off with annoyance.

"Please," he asked again, wincing as it tried to shake him off a second time. "I swear, I swear to Chaos, I swear on my _magic-"_

It shook him a third time, and he used some of that magic to keep himself from falling, a force of clear cerulean energy swirling in and out of sight to help him regain his almost-lost grip.

"-that I won't try to steal or damage any of your hoard, if you just let me look through your books for something to help my legs. I don't even need to find anything, I just have to look... _please_ let me do that."

With a great huff of displeasure, the dragon stopped trying to shake him loose, and brought its tail up to inspect him more closely. It bared its teeth and growled forcefully at him, probably trying to scare him into letting go, but he endured it, and it drew back to look at him with narrowed eyes. A long, tense moment dragged on as they stared at each other, his gaze pleading and the dragon's gaze irritated...

And then, the moment ended, and the dragon turned to walk back into its cave.

It wrapped its tail back around his waist as they passed beneath the waterfall again, and he shuddered at the cold water, but kept holding on just in case it tried to change its mind. He didn't really get the feeling that it was happy with him, but it was bringing him back through the torch-lit tunnels and into its den again- he was getting what he wanted. He'd passed whatever test this was, or he'd annoyed it into agreeing, but he was being brought back to the cavern with the books and scrolls and information that he might not find anywhere else until it was too late.

The dragon dropped him back down in the spot he'd woken up in, and the loss of the warm tail around his waist wasn't as extreme as it had been the night before, but it was still uncomfortable. His wet condition didn't last for long though, as his reptilian host inhaled deeply and _breathed_ at him, a wave of uncomfortably hot air mostly drying him off and just leaving his gloves and socks and shoes a bit damp for comfort. Sparks of a familiar but unfamiliar energy passed through him as it did so, and he tried to identify the feeling it gave him as it settled into his skin... it didn't matter though, he quickly dismissed the feeling, focusing instead on the dragon and its approach to the nearest pile of books in its hoard.

Three books were carefully selected from the pile and slowly brought over to him, and then the dragon was curling up attentively around him, its crimson gaze locked on to his each and every movement.

Sonic picked up the largest book first- a heavy, leather-bound one with fancy fake gold lettering on the front- and settled it into his lap. He flipped it open and started to read. Lunar magic? Yeah, that sounded _nothing_ like what he needed. The last thing he needed was to get himself turned into a _Werehog_. Water magic? Also not helpful in this situation. Sure, it did have _some_ healing properties, but it wasn't the kind that would fix his legs. It was mainly for cleansing the body of any germs and such that could cause an individual to become severely ill, and dealing with general physical injuries like torn flesh and broken bones.

That left two other books. Sonic glanced at the second one and picked it up, settling it onto his lap. He opened it, and then closed it after skimming the contents. Herbal remedies and the like. He was pretty sure that kind of stuff wouldn't be able to help his legs at all. Unless they were magical herbal remedies, but he had yet to hear of such a thing. Still, he might as well look- if there was even a chance that this might help his legs...

The hedgehog skimmed the first chapter of the book and when he was finished, he closed it and set it aside. Definitely no chance of those remedies helping his legs. The knowledge the book contained would be very useful for treating infections from cuts and scrapes (something he had encountered now and then while running, and would occasionally have to go to a healer for), but that was only if he could find a way to fix his legs. There were also remedies to help in recovering from other kinds sickness, so that wasn't a _total_ waste. Would probably save him a couple rings since he wouldn't have to go to a healer (unless it was really serious).

But that still didn't help with his current problem.

So that left the third and final book that the dragon had brought him. Sighing, Sonic picked it up. _'Third time's the charm,'_ he thought grimly.

At first, the third book seemed about as useful as the second one, in that it focused on the body and how different natural ailments affected it. He prepared to set it aside as he had the first two, skimming over the first chapter and the overview it gave of the rest of the book's contents, before one paragraph grabbed his attention- and held it.

_"When one thinks of natural maladies, it is commonly where the physical ends that they themselves also conclude their thinking, satisfied in their beliefs that the physical world is where the natural world begins and ends. However, this way of thinking, however common it may be, is patently false- that which is magical is just as natural, and perhaps even moreso, as that which is physical. Matter and energy are both integral parts of the natural world, and it is where they meet and combine that the most wonderful and terrible things spring into existence; i.e. fire and lightning. As these meetings of matter and energy are comprised of both physical and magical components, it is both physical and magical remedies working in tandem that are required to treat the maladies and conditions caused by them- this subject shall be covered primarily in chapters seven through thirteen."_

Flipping to chapter seven, almost halfway through the book as it apparently had really long chapters, the hedgehog eagerly scanned the title and the first so many paragraphs. He learned how the body dealt with fire damage and how it was a bit different from more physical and more magical types of damage, then skipped ahead to the chapter that covered lightning damage, and learned how it was similar to fire damage yet how the body dealt with it differently in most cases. It was mostly the level of concentration- how much magic was packed together in a bolt of lightning versus how much was spread out in a fire- and the contact it made with the body, that resulted in lightning damage often being so much more severe than fire damage.

Reading the chapter focused on how lightning interacted with the body, with both the physical and the magical aspects of the body, Sonic learned that his legs had essentially been fried by the overload of energy passing through them, and winced at some of the descriptions of situations that were similar to his. People often died getting struck or even just indirectly grazed by lightning, and some were permanently damaged and unable to recover full function in the affected body parts, no matter how much time passed or how much physical or magical treatment they were given. He didn't lose hope yet though, as the treatments mentioned in the book so far had been _only_ physical or _only_ magical, and he knew now from the overview that recovering from lightning-based afflictions needed both physical _and_ magical treatments.

Turning the page, he came across a case of partial paralysis that was similar to his own, but a little bit worse than his. The patient had been unable to feel or move their right arm entirely- he glanced down at his legs and tried to move them, and noticed a little bit of movement, though still he felt nothing- whereas he was able to still move his legs a bit. They had mostly recovered the feeling and usage of their arm by the time the mixed treatment stopped helping them any further, theories posed underneath the case study about how the time they'd gone without getting treated had caused them to be unable to fully recover, and how others in similar condition would be able to do so if they received treatment sooner.

Sonic frowned as he noted that the person had only gone a few weeks before receiving treatment, for the lightning magic used in the treatment was rare to be wielded by anyone, and it would probably take him just as long- or even longer- to find someone with lightning magic to help him.

He kept reading, looking for other possible solutions to his problem, and began chewing on his lip as he failed to find any.

"There has to be something else I can do," the hedgehog murmured, and lowered the book after he found no other solutions in it. He felt something warm trickle from his lower lip, and- upon licking his lips and feeling something with a coppery taste smear across his tongue- realized he had bitten down so hard that his lower lip had actually bled. Sighing, he debated whether or not ask the dragon if he could read more of its books. He really didn't have any other options, and he hadn't the faintest idea where to start looking for a user of lightning magic.

Unless...

Maybe the dragon knew something that could help? It seemed remarkably intelligent, and it clearly understood him... It was worth a shot. If the dragon couldn't help him, then he supposed he could read more of its books (assuming it even would let him, and not try to throw him out of the cave again- which was the last thing he needed right now). And if he found nothing else... nothing else that could possibly help...

He didn't want to think about what few alternatives he'd have left.

"Hey..." Sonic lifted his head to look up at the dragon. "Do you... look, uhm. From what I've read... finding someone who can use lightning magic is my best bet at fixing my legs. But I don't know of anyone who can do that kinda stuff, and by the time I find someone who can- assuming I'm even able to find anyone who can- it'll probably be too late for me to make a full recovery... and I might never run again. And I don't know if you know of anyone who can use lightning magic, or if you know of something else that can help me but..." He looked down at his limp legs. He shuddered as his thoughts, in spite of himself, entertained the strong possibility of him never being able to run, let alone walk, again.

He would never be able to live like that. Not happily, anyway. Oh sure, he could probably visit a therapist, and they could tell him to "look on the bright side of things, you're still breathing," and blah blah. Sonic lived for the wind in his quills, for the feeling of adrenaline running through his veins, for the feeling that he could run forever and see everything there was to see. To not have that again... how would there be a bright side to that?

And as for his friends?

Dead weight. All he'd be for them was dead weight. Sure, they wouldn't tell him that to his face, and they would freely help him try to get around without him even asking for their help, but... they would be thinking it, for sure.

The dragon looked down at him, and shifted its gaze to the book in his hands, leaning in to read the contents itself. He wasn't entirely sure it could read, but it had been responding to him intelligently enough, so he angled the book so it could see the pages better. After all, why would it want a hoard of information that it couldn't use? It wasn't using these books as kindling, that was certain.

Several moments passed, and his mind wandered back to the odds against him; how rare lightning magic was and how even with his worldly travels, he hadn't yet met someone who could wield it. Lightning was exceptionally picky, it wanted only people of certain mindsets and personalities to wield it, and most people that it _might_ have chosen to wield it were instead happily partnered with fire magic or one of the mind magics. Ambition, skill, intelligence, transformation, relentlessness- it had high standards, for it could only bless a person once, and then that person would be partnered with it for the rest of their days. Where and how could he find someone like that? Where and how could he find someone who had chosen lightning as lightning had chosen them?

Pulling him out of his thoughts, the warm body of the dragon drew away from him, a clawed paw gently taking hold of the book in his hands and taking it from him. He watched as it brought the three books back to the pile it had taken them from earlier, and kept watching as it seemed to deliberate with itself, its gaze locked upon its hoard before shifting to lock upon him instead. As it stared at him, he stared back, unwilling to give up hope that it might know someone or something that could help him.

The dragon narrowed its eyes at him, and suddenly snapped its jaws in his direction, as though it was going to bite him. He jerked back a bit, his hands reflexively going up into fists to fight with, but nothing else happened. No further attack came, just a crimson gaze that seemed to be filled with conflict, as it assessed him and his... whatever it was looking for.

Was it trying to test him, or something? Determine his worthiness? It might have been testing him when it tried to throw him out, it had given in way too quickly for him to have annoyed it into helping him, so maybe it was testing him again now? What was it testing him for though, and why was it testing him? If it even was testing him, that is.

The dragon snorted in an almost derisive manner as it continued to study him. It blinked, and then snorted again, this time louder. It uncurled its tail and the scaly limb snaked towards Sonic. The hedgehog watched in both intense hope and slight fear. Maybe the dragon really would help him. That, or it was about to throw him out. He could only hope that he'd passed the dragon's test. If it even had been testing him, that is. Sonic felt the warm tail wrap around his waist and pull him up off the ground, leaving his legs to dangle uselessly in the air.

The dragon lifted the mobian up closer to its face, regarding him one more time before whipping its head away and slowly trudging down the cave tunnel that led to the outside world. Was it going to throw him out?

Or was it taking him to someone who could help him?

Sonic decided to stop thinking so hard and just hope it was the latter. After all, it wasn't like he could exactly go anywhere at the moment in the first place- for more reasons than one. He might as well sit tight and see what happens. The hedgehog thus glanced up at the torches lining the cave walls, and noted that the flames were starting to die down a bit. However, they were still blazing bright enough to light their way- he supposed that was a good thing.

He was quickly torn from his thoughts as cold water from above splashed over him. Wiping water out of his face, he sputtered, and shook his head and arms to get the rest of the freezing liquid out of his fur.

Outside, it was a beautiful day to have followed a storm. The forest was still clearly damp in some places, mostly those that were covered in the shade cast by the trees, but other areas like the one they were in now had dried up already. The sun was shining brightly overhead, its light feeling warm on his skin and fur and quills, and reflecting prettily off the blue and silver and black scales of the dragon that was now setting him down next to a patch of exposed dirt.

His eyes were drawn to the movements of a sharp claw digging into the dirt, surprisingly light and swift for how large it was, and then he realized that the dragon was writing a message to him.

[You have received much assistance from me already,] the message began, and more was added as he watched; [and you have given me nothing in return. Answer a number of questions for me now, and I shall consider assisting you further.]

Blinking, the hedgehog wondered why his scaled host wasn't asking for physical things like more books or something as payment, but nodded anyways.

"Sure, what do you wanna know?"

An errant thought about the dragon possibly trying to take over the world came to mind- with his luck, he wouldn't be surprised at this point- but he dismissed it and decided to think about more pleasant things. No point in worrying until something happened, no point in worrying until after that something was over with, and then no reason to worry about it at all.

With a swipe of its paw, the dragon wiped away the letters it had previously written, and then, once the spot of dirt was clear, it started writing again. [What is your name?] the dragon queried. In that moment Sonic realized that he never even introduced himself. Well, he was going to fix that right now.

"The name's Sonic- Sonic the Hedgehog!" Sonic pointed to himself with his thumb, smirking proudly as he answered, some of his cockiness returning. "Fastest thing alive, and professional slayer of chili dogs."

The dragon's eyes narrowed, and it snorted in response. After wiping away the words in the dirt again, it wrote its next question. [Where are you from?]

"Well, I was born in Mobotropolis, but uhh- things kinda fell apart there years back, so I wound up being raised in a little village called Knothole," Sonic explained. The dragon's interest clearly peaked, if the expression on its face was anything to go by. Huh. That was... interesting.

Another swipe of the paw, followed by another question. [What happened to Mobotropolis?] Make that _two_ questions. [And what of the other kingdoms?]

Sonic chewed his lower lip. Well, this was going to take a while to explain, for sure.

Over the course of the next hour, the hedgehog told the dragon of the human mage that had seized control of Mobotropolis when he was still a kid, driving out those who weren't already his minions or otherwise already in his pocket if they wanted to remain free. He told the dragon how the residents of Knothole stood up to him, how the entire village was almost like one of the adventurer's guilds that people would only find in the larger cities of various other kingdoms, filled with people who wanted to take the man down and were working hard to do so.

It wasn't all gloom and doom and oppression either- with all the progress they'd made, especially in recent times, the mage was being forced to retreat in many cases and to abandon many of his plans in others. It had given a lot of them free time that they hadn't had before, and they were pursuing their own dreams as well as fighting for the freedom of others; one of Sonic's dreams was to explore the entire world, to see things that nobody else had ever seen before, and that was what had brought him to this very mountain range.

He told the dragon that although the human mage kept showing up in different places to take them over and expand his army- "It's like he's part gopher or something, he always has a hidey-hole to retreat to and pop out of when he's ready to attack again-" they were undoubtedly winning the war overall, and the man was now more of a general rival to him than the intimidating adversary he used to be. The threat he carried was still real, however, and Sonic knew that he was one of the few people in the world capable of taking him down. Without his legs and his speed, he wouldn't be able to do that anymore- he would be forced to stand by, or forced to stay behind where it was safe, while his friends went ahead and faced the dangers that he should have already taken care of by now...

[This mage that you call 'Eggman'-]

The dragon brushed a paw over that unfinished sentence, wiping it away, and Sonic watched as it wrote a new one.

[Without the usage of your legs, the mage stands a greater chance of succeeding in his goals? You are the primary obstacle in his way?]

He tilted his head, thinking about his friends and his chosen family that had contributed just as much effort as he had, and maybe even moreso.

"I'm a big part of taking him down every time he pops up, but really, I'm sorta just the face of the resistance. I'm loud and in his face, and I'm quick enough and clever enough to take down his minions and make my way around most of his tricks, but I'm definitely not all there is to it. I'm not the strongest of my friends, I'm just the fastest, and I'm not smart enough to out-think him in terms of strategy like my bro is. What I can do with my speed is great, but not as great as what all of us have been doing together- it's a group effort, I'm just the one he's labeled as the biggest threat, because I'm the one he's seen doing the most damage."

Pausing, Sonic noted the dragon listening to him intently, with a gaze that was beginning to narrow again. He wondered if it thought he was humble-bragging or something, and shook his head at the thought, smiling slightly. If he was bragging about something, it sure as heck wouldn't be humble- it would be loud and in his audience's face. No, his friends and family were just as important as he was, and they deserved recognition too, and he was beginning to get tired of the people of the kingdom seeing him as the 'main' hero when he was just protecting his freedom with others who also wanted to protect their freedom.

"If it wasn't for my friends and family being there with me, he'd probably have forced me to be one of his minions by now... but I will admit that without me, it'll be a lot harder for us to keep him from winning again, because my speed is a big part of how we keep him from winning."

The dragon tilted its head, its tail flicking from side to side. It clearly was carefully processing this information. Sonic decided to wait patiently, and give it time to think. The dragon wiped away the question it had previously written, and started to write something. Then it stopped and quickly swiped the dirt clean. The dragon snorted and rumbled, settling its front paw back where it was before.

He still waited for a response. But he was beginning to grow anxious, especially when the dragon started pacing back and forth, its tracks in the dirt soon becoming a mess of indistinguishable prints in the ground. Its pacing was steady, not as slow as it seemed like it should be due to its size, but not as fast as it could be. Part of him wanted to see it moving quicker, to see it pick up speed and challenge his reflexes, but the rest of him was feeling apprehensive about what it was thinking. How was it going to-

It abruptly stopped, and turned to face him, bringing a claw back to the dirt and scratching out another sentence.

[I will assist you with the recovery of your legs. In exchange, there are three things that I want.]

Sonic looked up at the dragon, and responded with an absolutely straight expression, "I mean, there isn't much I could repay you with, but I'll do what I can. If you can fix my legs, I might actually marry you."

The dragon froze, almost openly bewildered by the offer, before wiping away the previous sentences and writing its requests.

[First, I want you to continue your efforts in keeping the human mage from enslaving the population of the world. Second, I want you to keep my existence a secret, as well as my assistance to you. Third, return to me in the future, maybe once or maybe multiple times, and I will tell you what the third thing I want is then.]

Crimson eyes settled upon him as he read what it had written, waiting patiently for his reaction, but with its tail swishing in what he thought was uncertainty of some kind.

Sonic considered these terms for a minute, and then nodded, a small smile spreading across his muzzle. "Yeah, I can do that." He paused, then asked, "Can I ask you a question- just one?"

The dragon flicked its tail at him, a slightly irritated expression spreading across its features. Nonetheless, after a short moment it started writing in the dirt. [That in itself is a question. But you may speak. However, I do not guarantee that I will give you an answer.]

Sonic almost snorted at the first part of what the dragon had written, but ultimately was able to keep quiet in that regard. "What should I call you?" he asked once he was certain he was no longer in danger of bursting into a fit of laughter. "I mean- like- what's your name?"

The dragon tilted its head in a thoughtful manner, and sat up straighter, before scratching a name out with a bit more grace than the rest of the words it had been writing in the dirt. He wondered why the movement seemed so practiced for a moment, and blinked at the visibly prettier writing of its name, internally shrugging as he read it.

"Metal, huh? Nice name, pick it out yourself?"

The dragon snorted, but did not respond with a yes or a no, leaving the second question unanswered.

"Alright, nice to meet ya." The hedgehog sent fingerguns towards the other, but sadly had to put them away quickly, as he began to lose balance and needed to catch himself with his hands. Stupid legs, he couldn't even sit up straight without using his arms in some way? Ugh. "Okay, um, how are you going to help me? Do you know someone with lightning magic or something?"

The dragon- _Metal,_ Sonic mentally corrected himself- seemed to hesitate for a moment, and then, after wiping its name away, it wrote, [I am a user of lightning magic.]

Sonic's eyes widened slightly at this piece of information.

Metal did not wait for the hedgehog to respond and added, [As I said, I will assist you in the recovery of your legs. For optimal results, I suggest that we begin the first stage of the process immediately.]

Sonic blinked, opened his mouth, and then closed it again. Part of him had been taken off guard by the reveal, and it was... strange. Being taken off guard wasn't something new to him, it was in fact a large part of his enjoyment of life, being surprised and figuring out how things had come together to do so. But it had been a while since he had felt this kind of... affection? Was that the right word? Not the lovey definition, he was feeling affected or effected by being taken off guard, a strange affection that he hadn't felt since he was still mostly a kid. Being taken off guard had, instead of making him feel excited or gleeful or anticipatory as it usually did these days, made him feel... uncertain. Uncertain, but no less hopeful for it.

Half-formed questions whirled through his mind, questions that, if he spoke them, wouldn't quite sound right because of how quickly he would be asking them. So instead of asking any of them, he kept them in his head, and looked at Metal as though he could get his unknown answers just by doing so. He would get most of them by nodding his head now, by jumping into things and finding out by doing, and so he did. He nodded his head, agreeing with the dragon's suggestion that they begin immediately, ignoring the uncertainty he had come to ignore as a child still learning to fight.

And as they did with the rest of his life, things moved quickly on from there, leaving him to move even faster to keep up or be left behind in the dust.

[I may summon a storm during the process of attempting to heal you,] the dragon warned him, [but we will begin at a smaller scale. Water from the river, and lightning from my breath. To heal the damage caused by lightning, the circumstances under which the damage was inflicted must be recreated to some degree for the best results, according to some of the tomes I have available on the subject. So you are aware, I have never used my magic to heal something like this before. It may work, it may not. I will do my best.]

Sonic nodded. "Okay. And thanks. For agreeing to help me. I- I really appreciate you doing this." Metal snorted in response, and curled its tail around the hedgehog's waist. The dragon lifted him in the air and slowly trudged towards the river. He was glad that he'd gotten over his fear of the smaller bodies of water- otherwise he would probably be thrashing about trying to break free.

But he still was not a fan of the stuff, and probably never would be.

It didn't help that instead of setting Sonic into the river gently, Metal instead opted to drop him in it. From several feet high. "Ack!" He landed in an ungraceful heap, water splashing up everywhere and soaking his fur instantly. He whipped his head over to glare at the dragon and say something, but instead his mouth was left hanging open, not a sound leaving it as the dragon lowered its head to his limp legs. The dragon sniffed for a moment, and then opened its mouth. Plumes of mist left its mouth, accompanied by tiny sparks of light.

Sonic felt... _something_ when the sparks made contact. At first, it felt nice. A soft, pleasant, tingling sensation. And then all that changed as the feeling in his legs came back full force, searing hot pain tearing through his legs all over again. He bit his lower lip hard to keep from crying out, but try as he might, a low whine escaped his throat. He dug his fingers hard into the river-soaked mud, screwing his eyes shut. A minute later, perhaps two, the pain subsided. And then, a few seconds later, so did all feeling in his legs.

He turned his head to look at Metal, who had stopped breathing the mist onto his legs. "The feeling in my legs came back for a bit- but then it went away."

If a dragon could frown, then maybe it would be frowning right now, with the way it was looking at his legs. After a moment though, it simply nodded, and scratched something in a patch of dirt just close enough for him to see it.

[We will try again, but we will hold it for longer this time.]

Crimson eyes locked onto his once he finished reading, and he wondered what Metal saw in them, that made the other appear almost unhappy.

[That you regained feeling for as long as you did, when you did; I believe the current conditions are optimal for continuing the process. The shallow water around you acts as a bridge to the environment as well as an amplifier for the lightning itself, much as the rain did when you initially suffered this damage. It is unfortunate that prolonged exposure during the healing process causes you the amount of pain that it does.]

Though the words were awkward and clinical, a sign of the dragon not having spent much time talking with people or being social in general, the sentiment was easily understood. Sonic nodded, and shifted to get a better grip on the river-soaked earth beneath him, larger handfuls to grip and squeeze when he had to.

"Alright, that makes sense. I'll be ready for it this time though, so it shouldn't hurt as much. And even if it does, I'll still take it. Don't worry about stopping unless you think I'll die or something."

Somehow, he got the feeling that Metal was more unhappy having heard that, but he received an acknowledging nod anyways, and the dragon opened its mouth to start again.

Sonic felt the pleasant tingly sensation again, and then what was almost like a whiplash as that searing hot pain ripped through his legs again. It felt like they were burning, like they were literally on _fire._ He once again bit down hard on his lower lip, a low and nearly silent whine leaving his throat, blood slowly trickling down from the lip he'd bitten so much this morning. Being ready for the pain didn't make it hurt any less, but at least he'd been expecting it this time. He dug his fingers harder into the dirt, squeezing hard with his hands- so much so that they had begun to hurt as well. It didn't help that a sharp-ish rock was hidden in one of the handfuls of mud, and it dug into the palm of his right hand. But he ignored the pain coming from both his hand and his legs, trying to focus on staying still.

Minutes later, the pain faded away. And then, so did the feeling in his legs. But the feeling lasted a little bit longer this time- which was a good sign. At least, he hoped it was a good sign.

Sonic's breaths were coming out in short gasps now, and he found it hard to focus, a fog-like sensation gathering in his head and blurring his vision somewhat. He heard something scratching in the earth, and he turned his head to see Metal writing. [Do you feel anything in your legs now, or has it subsided again?]

After taking a bit to regain control of his breathing, the almost fuzzy quality of the world around him returning to clarity, he answered, "No, it went away again- but it did stay for a little bit longer."

The dragon huffed, and shifted its head closer to him, inspecting him for something. It wrapped its tail around his middle and lifted him up gently, turning him around this way and that way, before setting him down again where he'd been partially seated in the shallow water. Then, it began writing again, and he leaned up to read as it did so.

[The amount of power I put behind my second breath was the same as the first; there was merely a longer duration of exposure. However, the side effects you are suffering are far from ideal, therefore I give you three options.]

Seeing that he was reading along with the writing, Metal tracked his progress and wiped away what was written when he was done, quickly replacing the old words with new ones.

[First, I halve the power behind my breath and double the duration you are exposed to it, hopefully weakening the pain and the other effects of errant lightning magic in your form. Second, I maintain the present power level and expose you to my breath in a series of short bursts rather than one long exhale, with the same goal of mitigating the side effects. Third, I maintain the present power level and lengthen the duration of exposure by the same amount I did between the first and second breaths, if you wish to risk worsening the side effects in hopes that you will need less treatment overall.]

The dragon paused, and then beneath the paragraph it had already written, added the single line of, [How do you wish to proceed?]

Sonic considered the three options for a moment. The third one would probably be the quickest, but he didn't want to risk passing out or something in the middle of the treatment. The first option would probably be easier on his body, but that would mean being in the water for twice as long. So, that left... "Let's go with the second one," he told Metal.

The dragon nodded, wiping away the letters it had previously written, and wrote, [Very well. I will maintain the present power level and expose you to my breath in short bursts. Are you absolutely certain that this is what you want?]

"Yeah," Sonic answered, already digging his fingers back into the muck. "That's the one I want."

The hedgehog watched as Metal inhaled, and tensed up in anticipation of pain, as the dragon began to exhale. He watched the misty breath gather and settle around his legs, and the sparks of purple-blue-white lightning pierce through the water and into his skin. A faint tingling sensation grew where the sparks touched him, and he pressed his fingers deeper into the muddy earth as he prepared for it to give way to pain as it had before... but then the burst stopped.

A few moments passed, the tingling sensation having partially faded when the dragon started breathing its magic again, and the anticipation of pain once again grew. The second burst ended just as he was starting to feel how cold the water around his legs was, and another few moments passed, and then the third burst began as he was just starting to lose his sense of the water's temperature. A rhythm of sorts built around this pattern, the feeling in his legs slowly returning and partially fading and then returning even further, and the tension in his body began to fade as well, with the realization that pain from the bursts wouldn't be starting out as terrible as it had been with the uninterrupted attempts.

He still ended up gripping the mud between his fingers quite tightly, however, as it was replaced by a pain that was almost sharper despite its being weaker.

[How are your legs now?] The dragon inquired as it finished what was apparently the last burst. [Is there any difference in how long the sensation is taking to fade?]

Sonic took a moment to consider, shifting his legs in the shallow water, as the feeling in them began to fade again. The hope from earlier began to grow as he realized that he was still getting some sensation even though everything else was fading away- he brought up a muddy hand to pinch his right thigh, and the tingling in the area faded, but then returned once he stopped. His ears perked up as he tested this again, getting the same results, and he sat a bit more upright.

"Most of the feeling went away," Sonic finally answered, pinching another spot on his leg now. "But some of it's still lingering."

Metal seemed to perk up a bit at the hedgehog's words, and so the dragon- after wiping away the letters it had just written- wrote in response, [That is good. We are making progress. However, we will have to do more treatments in order for full feeling to return to your legs. I suggest that we begin the treatment again tomorrow morning, in order to allow time for your legs to adjust, and to avoid any unwanted permanent side effects.] The dragon stopped, watching as Sonic read what it had written- once the mobian was finished, Metal wiped away the letters and began writing again.

[I will not lie to you. This process will take time. Possibly weeks,] Metal wrote.

The hedgehog gripped the mud a bit tighter at the thought of being forced to stay in one place for so long, but nodded, accepting it as a necessity for healing up completely. His gaze trailed over the dragon before him, settling briefly upon its wings, before shifting up to the sky. His restlessness- when it came upon him- usually did so because he couldn't feel the wind in his quills, and hadn't for a good amount of time. It was part of why the magic of the wind had chosen him- he lived and breathed freedom in his speed and his spirit. He hated the thought of being unable to run for so long, hated the idea of being confined so much that he was already feeling the itch to _move_ begin to build up, but maybe the dragon would be willing to take him out flying. It had to get food sometime, right? He should be able to convince it to let him tag along when that itch grew into full-on restlessness.

"I'll have a hard time staying still for that long," he responded out loud, "but I'll get by. It's better than never running again."

The dragon nodded in acknowledgement, and Sonic began to settle in for a long haul, breathing in the fresh air of the mountains and listening to the wildlife in the forest around them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning, we might not be on time for the other prompts, because we keep getting invested and that keeps eating up our time jkhsdhjsskj


	4. Crossover- Home Alone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas, to everyone who celebrates it! Happy holidays to all!

When the unit designated 'Metal Sonic' came online at the usual time, it was to a base that was far quieter than it should be.

There was no whirring or banging of heavy machinery in the distance, and there was no angry shouting at any mistakes of underlings that had failed their duties. The lights weren't even on, the generators humming softly in the distance as they powered only the bare essentials- the Doctor had left this base for some reason, and Metal had been left behind.

_[Standby Protocol 762, activated at 0600; Watch over the base while the Doctor is absent.]_

He had his orders, and leaving his charging station, the robot navigated through the base in its quiet darkness. This particular protocol had only been applied nine times in the past two years, but he had discovered that his creator did not care what he did during those times, as long as he fulfilled his duties. As a result, he had eventually taken up what organic beings might call a 'hobby' of sorts, to pass the hours that would otherwise be filled with simply idling wherever he happened to be standing at the time... gaming.

Yes, Metal Sonic was a gamer. He preferred sandbox and simulation games that allowed him to practice certain things for possible future encounters with the target of his primary objective, but he also enjoyed games that made one _think_ , that made one utilize their resources creatively and efficiently in order to get the job done. Perhaps as a robot, he was a bit biased towards the latter kind of game, but there was almost nothing as satisfying as successfully completing things to a standard that no organic being would ever be able to match.

...even if it got him banned from online gameplay sometimes. ~~The organics were simply jealous that they could not match his skill, no matter how hard they tried to.~~

The only thing that Metal believed would feel more satisfying was finally beating Sonic- finally beating Sonic at something that _mattered_ to him. But Sonic was not present at the moment, and Sonic was unlikely to visit a base that the Doctor was not actively utilizing in a scheme to take over the world again, therefore he would have to settle for obtaining satisfaction through his currently favored games.

Tossing himself into one of the large chairs that the Doctor had made for himself to use, _not_ for one of his underlings to use as Metal was now, the robot settled in and gazed up at the massive screens before him. A few commands sent here, a few programs running there, and he was starting up a game that he would need no controller to play. He _was_ the controller, connected over the network as he was to the computer before him, and he would need nothing more than his own software to play any videogame in existence.

Peaceful music began to play, and he created a new world to conquer; blocky structures giving way to a sword that slaughtered pigs and sheep and cows without mercy.

Metal began hacking away at everything in sight, and pursued any cowardly digitized animals that dared to attempt to flee. He quickly caught up to them, and tore the whole lot to shreds. All except for one- a particularly small cow that was already scampering away as fast as its legs could possibly carry it.

"Come back here, you loathsome little-" he raised his sword and then, as he lunged towards the doomed chunk of code that made up this pathetic video game creature, he brought it back down with violent force. The cow squealed, and vanished in a poof of blocky dust. In its place, a chunk of digital meat appeared in a flash of sparkly light.

His gameplay continued in similar fashion as he crafted a pickaxe and went underground, later emerging to look for a village to trade in. An alarm sounded just as he reached the blacksmith's workplace, one outside of the game, and he quickly saved and exited to determine its cause. Before the game was even finished shutting down, he was already turning his attention to the security systems around the base, and the red eyes displayed upon his own monitor narrowed as he saw the target of his primary objective.

Sonic the Hedgehog was here, outside the doors of the base, gloved hands on his hips and an amused smirk on his face.

_[Engagement Protocol B12, subsection a, activated at 0607:24; Inform the Doctor that Sonic the Hedgehog is attacking the base.]_

He attempted to message his creator, first by calling and then by texting, but received no response. His next transmission was sent to the Eggmobile, but that as well did not receive attention- the Doctor was clearly busy with something else that had his undivided attention. Perhaps the man was sleeping, or _attempting_ to plan another world takeover. Either way, Metal was on his own, and that meant he had a new objective to carry out.

_[Engagement Protocol B12, subsection b, activated at 0607:45; Defend the base from Sonic the Hedgehog.]_

Sitting in the Doctor's oversized chair, in the room of this base that was reserved for plotting world domination and fighting Sonic the Hedgehog, the robot felt a thrill of sorts pass through his systems, and pressed the button on the computer before him that would open the front doors.

"You may enter," Metal murmured to himself, his gaze locked upon his target, "but you may never leave."

* * *

Sonic watched as the front doors slid open, wincing as some gears in need of oiling screeched loudly- and thankfully, only briefly. His smirk returned tenfold, and he sped on inside. This was a mistake, as at the same time, the square panels in the ceiling above him fell open, the shiny metal doors swinging from side to side a bit due to the momentum. He skidded to a stop and looked up to see a giant hose-like thing inside each of the now-exposed openings- another mistake, as he was about to find out.

From the hoses burst a thick and sticky bile-coloured liquid with the most nauseating smell that the hedgehog's nose ever had the displeasure to meet, coating him from head to toe in the stuff. "Nggh!" He gagged as the stench almost overpowered his senses, but thankfully, most of the disgusting slime slid off his fur and splattered onto the floor. However, this also proved to be a problem, as when he lifted his sneaker to try and take a step forward, it took all the strength in his leg just to free it.

"Come on," he muttered, grimacing.

Glancing around to see if there were any more traps like this one incoming, the hedgehog found nothing particularly suspicious around him, and huffed. Well, it wasn't like every trap would be obvious- as the one he was in had made quite clear- so maybe he should be looking for more panels in the walls... like the one that was opening up directly above him.

"Oh _shit-!"_

Instinctively jumping away, out of reflex more than conscious thought, Sonic failed to use the amount of strength that he needed to clear the weird goop that was holding his shoes to the floor. As a result, he didn't actually jump anywhere, and this second trap landed on him with ease. A net, of all things, a _net_ \- flimsy and made of rope that his quills could cut through with ease- flopped down on top of him and didn't even bother tightening, a little piece of paper fluttering to the floor in front of him with it.

He looked at the paper, and saw a crude drawing of himself with crossed out eyes, and Eggman laughing at what was presumably his corpse.

"Well, I wasn't here to fight, but with an invitation like this, how can I refuse?"

Voice filled with sarcasm, the blue blur slowly and unpleasantly made his way out of the goop that was sticking him to the floor, and tossed off the net once he was clear.

Sonic took about maybe ten cautious steps forward, and- when not encountering any further traps, he decided to relax and move a little faster. Yet another mistake. A trap door slid open from underneath the mobian, leaving him cartoonish-ly suspended in mid-air for all of one moment before his brain caught up to his legs. By that point it was too late- he was already tumbling down the pitch-black chute, and all his limbs were good for at this point was flailing about. The hedgehog landed in an ungraceful heap at the bottom.

Opening his eyes (at what point did he close them, anyway?), the hedgehog took in the room surrounding him. Around him on all sides were four clear glass panels, that went from the floor to the ceiling. "What the...?" One of the panels slid to the side, revealing a path ahead... a maze?

"Y'know, if this is another way of calling me a rat without using the actual words, you're gonna have to get better material."

He moved forward; walking at first, then jogging, then running. And then he was sprinting, keeping a hand close to the wall to his right, making his way through the maze without actually trying to solve it. If he kept to the right wall, he wouldn't _have_ to solve it- eventually, he'd just reach the exit, and it wouldn't even take that long to do so.

A speaker crackled to life overhead, and he paused to listen to his enemy taunt him... but it wasn't Eggman speaking.

"Actually, mice are the creatures commonly known for running through mazes for the reward of cheese," the voice of his robot doppelganger sounded out, "not that I expect you to understand even such obvious differences between the two. Of course, it is also likely that the Doctor was calling you a rodent in general. Perhaps you may question him on the matter later, from the _comfort_ of your very own holding cell."

Sonic didn't seem particularly fazed to find out that the one responsible for unleashing the traps on him was not Eggman, but instead Metal Sonic. Regardless, there was no way in heck he was going to wind up in a holding cell- not on his watch.

The hedgehog started sprinting down the narrow path before him once more, a smirk spreading across his muzzle. "So, Sunny-Side Up left you in charge of things while he's gone, huh? I admit, I'm a little surprised, but hey- I'm not one to pass up a good challenge- _oof-!"_ The wall panel to the right just ahead of him shifted, and due to how fast he was running, he had no time to stop himself from smacking into it painfully. "Ow."

Rubbing his face in pain with one hand as he stepped back, he muttered a few unsavory expletives, and after he lowered his hand, he glowered at the offending wall for a moment. That wall had _moved_. The path had been clear only seconds before. Guess his current strategy was now a no-go.

Sighing in annoyance, he directed his gaze to the left, where another path was now available. "Then again," he muttered, "I was kinda expecting to be smashing up robots, not... _this_."

As a panel in the ceiling above flipped open, Sonic skidded to a stop and scrambled backwards, thinking it was containing another hose ready to rain disgusting goo down on top of him. A hose did come slithering out of the opening left behind in the ceiling, and pointed the tip of its nozzle at the hedgehog... At that moment, he had the (not) brilliant idea of performing a homing attack on the thing before it could fire. So, crouching low, the mobian lunged and curled himself into a ball before launching himself towards the thing. While he did end up destroying the hose, he also wound up getting himself tangled inside some sort of sticky webbing that had been inside it.

"Ughh! At this rate, I'm gonna need to shower for at least thirty minutes," Sonic growled, tearing himself free of the stuff.

A speaker squelched, and Metal's voice came through once more, crackling loudly with the distortion cause by the electronic device. "Having _fun_ down there, hedgehog?" the badnik queried, his tone clearly mocking.

At least the webbing didn't smell as bad as the goo did.

"Oh _tons,"_ he responded flippantly, amping up the sarcasm with an amused smirk that was directed towards himself. "I _love_ being covered in sticky substances that force me to slow down for one reason or another. Slowing down is my absolute _favorite_ thing to do."

"And here I believed that your favorite action to take was enjoying nature without a care in the world for anything outside of it."

The speaker crackled again, and then cut off, leaving Sonic looking up at it with a raised eyebrow. Metal sure was feeling snarky today, wasn't he? To be fair, he did start the banter, so he guessed it was on both of them for setting this tone.

Shrugging more internally than externally, the hedgehog continued forward through the maze, narrowly dodging another wall that shot out before him and landing in an open area that was almost like a miniature room. There were several colorful buttons located side by side on a panel before him, and a sticky note between them- he picked it up, and began to read, tilting his head to the side as he was met with a riddle.

"Danger lies before you, and danger also lies behind... wait, this is just parodied from Harry Potter. Talk about lazy writing."

The speaker crackled, then squealed, and Sonic's ear twitched as Metal retorted hastily, "I was not the one who put _that_ there. That is one of the Doctor's traps."

There was then a squelch as the speaker cut off again, and he snorted, muttering something along the lines of, "Yeah, okay, suuuure," before turning his attention to the buttons on the wall. After studying them a moment, he glanced around the room, eyes searching for any sign of more traps. For all he knew, one of these buttons would probably trigger one, and he wasn't about to risk it without getting a feel for the room first.

There was what looked like a slightly raised panel on the wall to his right, a second one on the wall behind him, and a third one on the floor a couple feet away from where he stood. No doubt whatever lay within them were designed to slow him down. Was it just him, or was this some kind of stupid running gag? Sonic shook his head, looking around the room some more. There were no other panels, and there didn't seem to be any visible escape routes either. Sonic had three choices at this point. One: sit there until either Metal became bored or until Eggman returned from wherever the heck he was. Two: press one of the buttons on the wall and hope it would provide him with a way out and _not_ set off another trap. Three: try to break out of here via smashing into one of the walls and hope that his quills would actually be able to cut through.

Deciding to shake things up a bit, Sonic prepped up a spindash and went zooming into the nearest wall- it held, but it was dented, and he snickered as he wound up to hit it again.

"That is not allowed," the speaker crackled to life again, and he heard what sounded like buttons being pressed through the mic. The panel nearest to him sprang open, and a ton of marbles came pouring out, covering the floor of this room in seconds. He stared at them, and then up at the nearest camera, a bewildered expression on his face.

"Marbles," he said, not quite questioning but also not really believing it either.

"Marbles," Metal responded, in a tone that had him imagining the robot with his chin raised, daring him to object or make fun of them.

Even it if was only in his imagination, he couldn't turn down that kind of challenge, and his bewilderment turned into a teasing sort of amusement.

"You seem to have lost yours."

Metal growled over the speakers, "You think you are funny, my _loathsome_ template? _Hmph!-_ you should be more concerned about what else I have in store for you, hedgehog, rather than wise-cracking. I am far from finished toying with you, after all."

Sonic's teasing smile fell slightly- but it was only slightly. "Yeah? Well I'm far from finished in trying to bust outta this stupid room." With that having been said, the hedgehog lowered into a crouch, and then jumped, curling into a ball mid-air. His spiky blue form rocketed forward, crashing into the dent he'd made in the wall earlier. The dent seemed to grow bigger and deeper, but it still wasn't enough to break through.

He attempted to land on the floor gracefully, but since there were marbles _everywhere,_ it was impossible. The Chaos-damned things slid out from underneath his sneakers, sending him crashing painfully onto his back. "Ow. _Again_. Why."

Trying to stand up, the hedgehog slipped again, but this time caught himself. Slippery surfaces and supersonic speeds had never meshed well for him, but with _marbles_...

He pushed them aside with his feet as though he were making footprints in snow or sand, and got up on steady footing, jumping and slamming into the wall a third time. This time it tore in the middle, and he caught a glimpse of the maze area beyond, before landing on the marbles again. It didn't hurt this time because he was still curled up in a ball, but as a result of still being curled up, he did end up rolling over the marbles and across the room.

He came to a stop near the middle, after lightly ricocheting off the wall once or twice, and carefully stood up the way he had before. His hands on his hips, he smirked as he looked at the hole in the wall, and began to make his way towards it... when he heard the familiar sound of fluids gurgling down a hose, and dodged out of the way, just in time to see more of that disgusting-smelling goo cover the hole in a fat glob.

"As I said earlier, that is not allowed. If you try that again, then I will be forced to take drastic action."

He could almost hear the dramatic sniff that would have followed that tone if Metal was an organic being, and part of him was amused, wanting to test just how far the robot would go. However, he remembered that Metal's goal had always been to _kill_ him- Eggman was fond of him in a weird way, not wanting to kill him outright, but knowing that lethal force was what came closest to taking him down. Maybe he shouldn't antagonize the badnik so much, even if it seemed like he'd been mellowing out a bit during their past few encounters.

"Alright, you want me to play by the rules. But why should I try to play along when I could just bust on outta here and defeat you my own way?"

Several seconds ticked by before Metal finally answered the question.

"I could offer you an incentive to behave."

"So in other words, some kind of _reward?"_ Sonic asked with a snort, looking up at the speaker and rubbing his finger on the underside of his muzzle, just below his nose, trying to put together his thoughts. "Riiight," the mobian droned, a teasing note entering his voice once more. "And what kind of reward would this be, if I may be so bold as to ask?"

_"Incentive,"_ Metal corrected firmly, as if there was any difference between the two words. "Incentive," he repeated. "If you behave within the acceptable parameters from this point forward, you will receive chili dogs in return."

Sonic blinked, and opened his mouth to speak again, but the robot was not finished.

"However, if you continue to act outside of the acceptable parameters, I will have no choice but to take drastic measures. It would be in your best interests to comply. Resistance is futile."

Releasing a thoughtful hum, the hedgehog considered the situation posed to him. Play by the rules, get chili dogs, and get what he originally came for in the first place... or do his own thing, get what he came for, and get chili dogs later on when he was done here. He was leaning towards the second path, honestly. The first gave him 'performing rat' vibes, and he wasn't about to give Eggman any more material for making fun of him and plotting against him than he had to, even if the man wasn't present at the moment. Cameras were everywhere in these bases, and they'd record everything he did... unless he destroyed the footage on his way out...

"I dunno," he drawled out, tapping his foot against the marble-covered floor. "I'm gonna need a bit more than just chili dogs to convince me to play along. What are those drastic measures you'd try to take if I didn't?"

Honestly, he was tempted to just go ahead and find out by experiencing it rather than talking about it, but talking was what he'd come here for. He hadn't come for a fight- if he'd wanted one, he would've come along before Eggman had left, or he would've attacked the base from a direction _other_ than the front door. There were plenty of back and side entrances to his enemy's bases, individual escape routes the man could take if he had to and if so many others were blocked, and Sonic had learned how to find them from the outside. He was often invited to take at least three different ones, actually, as Eggman knew that he knew how to find them, and curiosity often struck him when it really shouldn't...

But no, he hadn't come here to fight, he'd come here to mess around with Metal. To mess with him, and talk with him; to figure out some things about him that had recently been on his mind a lot. Like why was Metal still working with Eggman when he could honestly be a great rival on his own, and what happened to that cool Neo form he'd used once and then had never used again. He wanted to talk, so he'd at least try using some verbal diplomacy before getting physical.

There was a short moment of complete silence.

Sonic could almost feel the hesitation in making any sort of response rolling off of his metallic rival. Finally, the robot replied, though the mobian hadn't quite been expecting it to be with a question. "Why are you even here?"

Well, that was unexpected.

But not necessarily _unwelcome_ either. At least he and Metal were talking now, and not fighting. Not yet, anyway. "I'm here cause I wanna talk," Sonic answered, rubbing his finger along the underside of his nose once more. "I didn't come here looking for a fight. I just want to ask some questions."

The speakers crackled less than they had been before, as Metal spoke at a slightly quieter volume than he had been before. To the hedgehog's ears, it sounded almost... confused. Bewildered, as though this was so obviously something that shouldn't happen that the robot didn't know how he didn't know that himself.

"You should realize that mere 'talking' is not something I am allowed to do in this instance," the badnik was laying things out clearly for him. "I am to defend this base in the Doctor's absence, and you are an enemy attempting to infiltrate it. Your intentions do not matter."

Tilting his head, the blue blur looked directly into the camera as he replied, "if my intentions don't matter, why'd you ask why I was here? Seems to me that you're not as opposed to talking as you think you should be."

Another moment of complete silence came and went, before the lights in the maze around him turned off all at once, and the humming of machinery sounded out around him. He got the feeling that he made a mistake somewhere, and as something whistled through the air as it flew towards him, he dodged and slipped uncomfortably across the marble-covered floor, thinking about what had been said. Metal wasn't _allowed_ to talk to him, because he was an enemy infiltrating the base... but he wasn't completely opposed to it either, judging by his words and some of his actions... so why wouldn't he want to talk?

"We shall see how much 'talking' shall be done when you get through this maze," the robot spoke again at his normal volume, taunting in the words used but not quite in the feeling of them. "Good 'luck' reaching the center of the base without any light to guide you."

Well, that was an invitation if he'd ever heard one.

"You're on," Sonic called out, feeling his way to the panel in the middle of the room and pressing the button he thought was the right one, based on the parodied riddle given to him. The sound of a door opening nearby came to his ears, and he made his way through it, listening to the dark maze around him for any sign of traps triggering or more projectiles being fired at him. And in the distance, a faint red light blinked to life against a wall, an 'EXIT' sign for him to read through the clear, glass-like walls of the maze.

He got the feeling that he wasn't supposed to see that, or he wasn't supposed to give away that he'd seen that, and so he very carefully didn't look in that direction for long, feeling his way around the maze and making his way towards it by sheer 'chance'.

Naturally, the hedgehog found himself encountering more traps (and even more so than before, which was unsurprising, given that he couldn't see a thing with all the lights off), including but not limited to more goo-shooting hoses, a spring trap that sent him flying and crashing painfully into a wall, another flimsy net, another room full of marbles, and then a trap door that- just as he'd reached the end of the maze, and was about to step through the opening to get to the 'EXIT' door- swung open from underneath him. Sonic was left to tumble down the chute ( _not_ fun at all, especially since it was dark the whole way down).

Sonic skidded out of the chute and landed in a heap on the metal floor below. At first it was still pitch black, just like the upper level. And then the lights clicked on, and Sonic had to screw his eyes shut for a moment, as the sudden change in brightness was a bit painful. Eventually, he let his eyelids flutter open, and his gaze trailed across the absolutely _massive_ room surrounding him.

This time, instead of a maze, there were tons of giant, cylindrically shaped platforms seemingly suspended in mid-air, all of them installed with jump panels. The room was rather bright and colorful, with the walls and platforms being a dark-ish purple and riddled with neon-lime lines. Or trim. Whatever.

Sonic smirked, pushing himself to his feet. "Now this is more like it!"

* * *

Metal dug his sharp fingers into the armrests of the chair as he heard the door behind him sliding open.

Over the course of the past thirty-nine minutes and seventeen seconds, he had observed the target of his primary objective going through the various traps and puzzles that were in his way, as his probability calculations had stated he would. Fighting Sonic by nonlethal means would not result in the hedgehog being taken down, as he had learned from their many past encounters, and so it was only a matter of time before his target would reach the room he was in. His belief in this fact- and it _was_ a fact, for it had just been proven true- was why he had ultimately decided to use only mild and moderately severe traps that would be more annoyances than anything else. If Sonic was truly here just to talk, then it would be to his benefit to not antagonize the other unduly, for he wanted information as well, and a nonviolent discussion was a valid way to obtain it.

He had to know how he could complete his primary objective without killing Sonic. He had to know how he could _neutralize Sonic the Hedgehog_ , without 'getting rid of him' (as his creator was so fond of rephrasing the command), for Sonic would not die by his hand. The odds had been calculated hundreds of times, and there was a zero percent chance of him successfully killing his target... thus he was forced to turn to other means of completing his primary objective.

Nobody knew that information save for him, however, and so he had a role to play. He had appearances to keep up, he had to 'show' his creator that he was still attempting to fulfill the purpose he had been created for, though it was not in the way that the Doctor had intended. If the man knew that he wanted to neutralize Sonic without killing him, then he would likely end up reprogrammed again or even decommissioned, and that would prevent him from completing his mission...

As footsteps sounded in the room behind him, Metal swiveled around dramatically with his fingers steepled before his 'face', glowing red eyes locked onto his target.

"Hello, Sonic the Hedgehog," he spoke, his displayed eyes narrowing slightly as he regarded his organic counterpart with a glare. Sonic placed his hands on his hips, that eternally infuriating smirk spread across his peach muzzle as he looked right back at him.

"Well?" the badnik prompted. "You wanted to talk- so talk, hedgehog, while we both still have time. The Doctor will not be away forever. It is only a matter of time before he returns." Metal swiveled away from the hedgehog slightly, pressing as series of buttons on the computer console beside him. Once he was finished, he turned the chair back around, steepling his fingers once more. "Your chili dogs will arrive shortly."

When Sonic raised his brow, he went on to add, "You acted within the acceptable parameters. Therefore, it is only fair that I should do the same."

"Nice," his target said to him, "and yeah, I did wanna talk. Mainly about what's been up with you lately. I haven't seen you more than three times in the past year, and when we did meet up, you weren't interested in fighting me. Well, you might've been a little, but you weren't trying to _kill_ me. And now you basically just gave me an invitation to talk to you instead of outright fighting me again. So, what's going on?"

The hedgehog was as blunt as ever, and his words would have been dangerous, if Metal had failed to ensure that the footage in this room was going to be 'unfortunately' corrupted by the time Sonic left. There were also several inaccuracies in the given statements, and now he felt the urge to correct them... so he did.

"It is wildly inaccurate to say that you have seen me more than three times in the past year. The third-to-last time you saw me was approximately five months, two weeks, three days, seven hours, and twenty-seven minutes ago. Three weeks prior to that, you saw me for the fourth-to-last time. However, it is true that I was not trying to kill you during those times, and it is true that I invited you to speak to me after hearing that you wished to do so. Rather than inform you of my reasoning for this immediately, I would first like to hear your theories on the matter, and I may have a few inquiries of my own to pose during this conversation. I will not give away potentially dangerous information for free."

Sonic tilted his head to the side, and the robot observed an expression that he recognized as 'thoughtful' appear upon the other's face. "Well, I didn't think I'd get this far, so sure, why not. But I won't answer questions that are meant to hurt my friends, alright?"

Metal nodded once, sharply, and brought his arms back down to the armrests of the oversized chair he was sitting in.

"That is acceptable. Now, tell me what your thoughts on my recent behavior are, and I will correct them of any important inaccuracies."

"Well," his target began, "I think you've decided _not_ to kill me, because otherwise you'd be at my throat right now, and you would've been at my throat back then too. I can't say why though- maybe you had a change of heart, or maybe you realized that I won't go down like that. For actually talking to me right now instead of fighting, I think you're looking for other options. You've always been smart, and now that you've decided not to kill me, you're looking for different things to do instead."

At this assessment of his current state, the robot was abruptly grateful that he did not have a face to give away his errant emotions, though his displayed eyes still dimmed ever-so-slightly. That was... startlingly close to accuracy. The fact that Sonic was capable of reading him so easily made him almost uncomfortable, even, and he did not know what the best reaction to such a realization would be.

"That is... generally accurate. I have indeed come to the conclusion that killing you is not how I may best complete my primary objective. There is the possibility that I may return to attempting such in the future, should I determine that it was the correct way to do so all along, but for now I am interested in exploring alternative means of neutralizing you."

He nodded a second time, just as sharply as the first, and continued speaking.

"Now, on to some of my inquiries. One: Did you have any other reasons for coming here today, other than to speak with me? Two: Do you intend to destroy this base I have been tasked with defending? Three: What do you plan to do with the information that has been and will be shared with you throughout this discussion?"

Sonic hummed, loud enough for his audio sensors to pick up on it, and he remained still as he waited for the responses that would be given to him.

"It _is_ kinda tradition to destroy any of Eggman's bases that I enter-" Metal's eyes narrowed upon his monitor, and his target laughed upon seeing it- "but I guess I can break tradition just this once, if it'll help you out."

That gave him pause, made him wonder why the one he had tried to kill numerous times wanted to help him, before he recalled that such notions were in the hedgehog's nature. Things like 'kindness' and 'compassion', emotions and manners of behavior that he had personally come to define as 'noble', though also occasionally idiotic. Allowing his creator to slink away time and time again instead of simply taking care of him once and for all... but of course, that was not 'noble' or 'heroic', and no matter how much Sonic seemed to quietly dislike the pedestal of heroism that the people he saved put him on, it was as much a part of his identity as being a robot was a part of Metal's.

Seemingly not noticing the threads of processing that Metal had been following, Sonic had continued speaking, requiring the badnik to briefly go over his records of the event in order to catch up on what he had missed.

"And what I do with the info you give me depends on what kind of info it is. You don't really lie, unless you've been ordered to, but you do like to skirt around the truth sometimes and hide multiple meanings in just one or two sentences. I'll probably end up keeping most of this to myself, unless you tell me something related to the people I care about being in danger or whatever, then I might share the info related to the danger, but not the other info around it. You're worried about Eggman finding out about this, I can tell, and I don't know why, but I can use info you give me without sharing where I got it from. People don't ask me questions a lot- makes it easier for me to keep secrets."

Metal remained still, quiet and still, as he contemplated the... possible ramifications of this response. Sonic was suggesting that he would keep Metal's secrets, should he deign to share any with him, and the data he had gathered on his target indicated that this suggestion would hold true if tested. The blue hedgehog was honest like he was, so similar to him in so many clear yet twisted ways that it had infuriated him when he was still operating under the false belief that he was the real 'Sonic' and this organic counterpart was a fake, before he learned that his identity was separate from that of his target... He _loathed_ false information due to how long he had been functioning with it as the base for his everything, and so he was indeed truthful unless outright ordered to lie, but could the same be said for the hedgehog standing before him?

Organic beings were chaotic, changing constantly. They could promise one thing in one moment, and genuinely mean it, and then they could act contradictory in a moment not all that long afterwards. Instability tainted the very foundations of their being- they could change their minds so quickly, and not give away a single sign of it, or even realize it themselves before they had already taken action contrary to their former beliefs. His creator was a prime example of this, of what was often defined as 'fickle' behavior when performed in excess, but he knew that all organic beings were fickle to some degree due to the chaos present in their existence.

_['I should not be considering this suggestion as much as I am,']_ the robot thought, as he reached the part of his queue that had the information to remind him of the precarious position he was in, files and folders on the subject being opened and reviewed and dismissed in mere clock cycles. _['Therefore, I will cease doing so.']_

He purged his queue of the incoming data that would involve further entertainment of the subject, and moved on.

"What of your reasons for being here? Are they solely those related to talking with me, or are there more that go beyond the scope of mere discussion?"

The hedgehog shifted where he stood before him, an unconscious movement that indicated discomfort of some kind, whether physical or otherwise. Organic bodies needed to move in order to remain fully functional and comfortable, whereas Metal and the robots that had been created before and after him did not experience physical discomfort in such a fashion, allowing them to remain utterly still for hours on end. This stillness of theirs brought nonphysical discomfort to organic beings, however, and such was why their creator had programmed them to make useless and wasteful movements on occasion, related to 'expressing' their states of being and their emotions.

Metal had learned to control the frequency of these movements, when he had learned that they were capable of interfering with the completion of his given objectives, thus providing him the loopholes needed for him to keep valuable information and secrets- such as his given emotional state at any particular time- to himself.

"I have one other reason," Sonic replied, "but that can wait for later. It's more of a leaving thing, something you'll prolly wanna take care of on your own. I'll give it to you on my way out."

The robot's displayed eyes narrowed once again, in a repeated deliberate attempt to intimidate the hedgehog into providing further information, but his target instead moved on to another topic.

"So, where are those chili dogs you promised me? It's been a hot minute since you said they were on their way-"

A panel in the floor opened up between them, and a plate of warm chili dogs- courtesy of the Doctor's automated kitchen- was lifted up to Sonic's eye level. Metal could have adjusted the height that the platform would stop at, but he wanted his target to experience the same irritation that he gave him, and so he did not.

Sonic's eyebrow quirked upwards, and he looked as if he were about to speak. But nothing left his lips. The hedgehog reached up and grabbed the plate, carefully sliding it off the platform so as to avoid accidentally dumping its precious cargo on the floor. With one gloved hand holding the plate, Sonic removed one of the chili dogs with his other hand, examining it, tilting it in the light and giving it a quick sniff.

"Smells pretty good," he commented before taking a bite. Metal watched as the hedgehog chewed the food in his mouth slowly, as if savoring the taste (and most likely, he was). He swallowed and added before taking another bite, "Tastes pretty good, too. My compliments to the chef!"

"The so-called 'chef' is the Doctor's automated kitchen system," the robot informed him, the tone in his voice clearly indicating that he was unimpressed.

"Well now I'm almost morally obligated to dislike it," the hedgehog joked, causing Metal to roll his 'eyes' in response.

"I hardly think that there is any great moral obligation to the like or dislike of chili dogs," he replied, purposefully utilizing the body language of relaxation to get his target to lower his guard, leaning back in the Doctor's chair and resting his chin upon his fist. "Unless, of course, it is the source of the chili dogs that you are concerned about. You need not worry about that, for we acquire our consumables from the same major and minor sources that the worlds in general do. Any wildlife utilized in the Eggman Empire is utilized for purposes _other_ than consumption."

Sonic slowed down as he spoke, a touch of discomfort entering his gaze as he looked around the room, as though looking for one of the robots that utilized tiny animals as merely another component for functioning. There were none in sight, of course, and most of those were older models anyways, relegated to the protection of old bases that did not have much value remaining to them in the present state of the Eggman Empire.

"Y'know, I've been wondering if you've got a small animal inside you too. I've never been able to break you open to find out, without potentially hurting that animal, but I'm not sure you do have one. You were powered down on Little Planet for a long time, and any systems supposedly keeping a Flicky or something alive inside you wouldn't have been running, so it would have starved to death before you returned here for our second encounter."

The jump in subjects was so unexpected that Metal froze for a moment, processing the potential pathways that his target's thoughts may have followed to reach this one from the previous one, and then he caught up with what the hedgehog was saying. He remained frozen, then, simply watching Sonic eat his chili dogs and ramble on, and waited for the inevitable questions to be posed to him.

His target chewed on his current bite of chili dog for a long time, as if he was carefully considering what to ask next. To watch the hedgehog actually _think_ about something for once was... almost fascinating to him. Finally, Sonic swallowed, and asked right out, "So do you have an animal inside of you?"

Metal took exactly one thousand clock cycles to process this question, and in turn try to come up with a response that would not result in a fight between them in this very room. As it turned out, Metal did not have a Flicky, or any other small animal inside of him. To give this information to Sonic freely would be a major risk- one which the badnik was uncertain as to whether or not he should take. If he were to lie, then Sonic would undoubtedly attempt to destroy him in order to free the non-existent animal inside. Which, due to the inevitable outcome of that scenario, was obviously not a viable option for him.

And what of the truth? Unfortunately, the truth may also inevitably result in a fight. Sonic was more careful about destroying the robots _with_ small animals inside. That meant that by informing Sonic that he didn't have one, then the mobian would- as previously determined by available data and past history- again, result in a fight.

And if he were to not answer the question...

Metal started diverting more of his power to his battle systems, regarding his target with a cautious glare as he finally replied, "No, I do not. The Doctor constructed me so that I would not require a Flicky, or any other animal, to act as a plugin for my neural network."

He waited for the hedgehog to hurriedly finish his chili dogs and get into a battle stance, waited for him to dart forward with sharp quills aimed directly at his chest engine, but none of these things happened. Instead, his target _beamed_ at him- he learned why exactly that kind of smile was called 'beaming' in that moment, it was because of how bright it was, metaphorically speaking- and bounced in place a bit.

"Dude, I gotta be straight with ya, that's pretty great to hear. So what do you mean by plugin for your neural network? Do the animals power the neural network alone, instead of the whole body of the robot, or are they used for another reason? And if you don't have a small animal powering you, what do you have?"

With his attention almost entirely focused upon the fact that Sonic had reacted in a way that was _not_ fighting, the robot began responding to these questions automatically, without any consideration of deceit or of the potential damage that revealing this information could do.

"A neural network is what the Doctor defines 'the artificial equivalent of an organic brain', and it is impossible for a single small animal to power an entire robot, no matter how efficient the Doctor builds them to be. The reason that small wild animals are included in the Doctor's older creations is so they may serve as a means of granting higher intelligence to the robots they are utilized in- without the animals plugged into their CPUs, the old models known as 'badniks' would be no more capable of strategic action than a microwave would be. As for my own neural network, I do not require an animal to provide intelligence due to the fact that I was created with-"

Finally, abruptly, his processors caught up with what he was saying, and he cut himself off with a harsh beep. He glared at the hedgehog that had taken him off guard enough to make him almost reveal how he was capable of thinking for himself, and enabled an internal protocol that made it necessary for his permission to be granted before he answered any given questions, not wanting to risk doing so in any way that was not deliberate. He should have enabled that protocol the moment that it became clear that Sonic wanted to converse with him, but he was confident in his control over his own being, and did not anticipate being taken off guard enough for any of his autopilot functions to activate.

"That is information you will not be receiving at this time," he stated stiffly, statuesque in how still he was in the Doctor's chair, red 'eyes' locked on to green and almost daring his target to try taking him off guard like that again.

Sonic merely shrugged in response, and silence filled the room as he took his time finishing off his chili dogs. Once he was done, he set the now-empty plate back on its platform. Metal, still regarding the hedgehog warily, pressed a button on the console next to the Doctor's chair. The platform lowered back down into the chute from which it had come, and the panel covering said chute slid back into place.

"Was there anything else you wished to discuss at this time?" he inquired, still eyeing his target with caution. "So you are aware, any and all further questions about my neural network will be ignored."

"Well..." Sonic tapped his foot against the floor a bit, and then scratched his ear. "Just one more thing, I think. What ever happened to that cool Neo form of yours?

The robot tilted his head at that, expressing the... well, the unexpected _intrigue_ , that developed upon noting that his target considered his Neo form to be 'cool'. It had been designed to be intimidating, the visage of a leader above all others, of an _overlord_. He was not surprised that the form had been stripped from him when his creator had gotten him back under control, not surprised that the only parts of that particular incident he still 'remembered' were those related to the data he had gathered from his adversaries, considered just valuable enough that the Doctor allowed him to keep it...

"It was taken from me," he responded quietly, "much like toys may be taken from a misbehaving child. I no longer have access to the nanites that made my possession of that form possible, and much of the data from that time period has been erased from my hard drive, in order to prevent any repeat occurrences. In fact, all of my memory on that event would have been erased, had the Doctor not considered some of it valuable enough for me to keep, and had he not been... _proud_ of me. Not that such sentimentality would be allowed to get in the way of his plans and his desires, of course."

The inflection with which Metal said the words 'proud of me' betrayed his conflicting feelings on the matter; the happiness at getting his creator's approval, the fury at being punished for trying to complete his primary objective in 'an unauthorized manner', and the sadness at the loss of what was truly _his_ and nobody else's. He still wanted that form of his back, but he was not allowed to use the nanites due to the security risk the Doctor had labelled his possession of them to be, and he was wary of trying to regain them anyways due to the punishments that he would receive if he did so...

Only partially erasing his memory was a mercy, compared to the complete reprogramming that he had seen his creator give other misbehaving robots, the complete reprogramming that he had only narrowly avoided himself on that occasion. If he rebelled in such a manner again, if he held the Doctor prisoner again and got in the way of his plans again, then he would be subject to the same, and the precious sense of identity that he had cultivated for himself would be lost forever.

"Oh..."

Silence filled the room for thirty thousand clock cycles. Metal continued to watch his target, waiting for him to say something more... and finally, the hedgehog said firmly, with no trace of doubt in voice, "He shouldn't have done that to you."

The circumference of the robot's displayed eyes widened slightly, but otherwise he showed no outward reaction. "And why do you believe that?" he queried, making certain to keep a steady, even tone in his electronic voice.

"Because he took away something that was a part of you," his target answered. "A piece of your identity. Sure, it may not make up _all_ of who you are, but it was still a part of you. It's nothing like having a toy taken away from a misbehaving child- it's a million times worse than that."

His processors were occupied by that sentiment for a thirty thousand clock cycles further, a sense of uncertainty creeping over him, reminding him without needing to of why he had chosen to indulge in Sonic's desire to speak with him. There were so many questions and problems that he needed to find the answers to, the most important of which being how could he complete his primary objective, but also significant were those related to his continuously developing sense of self and how it could be preserved.

Determining who an individual was, as a person, was a problem that even the most confident organic beings possessed, and his creator had designed him to think and feel as much like organic beings as a machine was capable of. Preserving that individuality was a problem that he personally was faced with, however, under these circumstances that did not apply to organic beings and their memories that were safe beyond the reach of deliberate external machinations. 'Brainwashing' was something close to equivalent to what potential punishments may follow future rebellion, but it was nowhere near as absolute... his memory, once altered or deleted, was done so permanently, with no chance of regaining that which had been lost.

"I... appreciate the sentiment..."

He found it difficult to develop the proper string of words to create a desired response, and remained utterly still in the Doctor's chair, not allowing himself to outwardly express any emotions that could not be expressed by the 'eyes' upon his monitor.

"...but it is no major loss, and is indeed what was to be expected to occur. A machine did not function by the parameters it had been given, for approximately six days, twelve hours, fourteen minutes, and twenty-three seconds. That issue was corrected, and precautions were taken to ensure that it would not 'malfunction' in such a way again... That the machine in question did not 'want' the issue to be corrected is irrelevant, for that 'want' was formed whilst it was under the influence of its malfunctioning systems, and therefore not capable of 'making sound decisions'."

Carefully, he informed his target of what he believed- of what he _had to_ believe, in order to retain that which he still possessed. The Doctor did not often check his internal logs, but he did so on nearly unpredictable occasions, and any sign of budding rebellion was squashed when that occurred. The fact that he was even speaking to Sonic at this moment was a potential red flag for the man, and he already would have to carefully try editing his logs in the most minimal of accepted ways in order to ensure that they passed the scrutiny of an intelligence greater than his own, without having to worry about other signs of desired rebellion showing up as well.

"You must be aware of the fact that I am a tool of the Doctor's will before I am anything else," he cautiously added, trying to warn the hedgehog away from any overt pursuit of this topic of conversation. "Anything further that I am capable of is merely a... quaint, but unnecessary, addition to what is already a great creation. Should that which is unnecessary interfere with that which is necessary, it will be disabled or removed, in order to ensure that it does not interfere again."

He hoped that Sonic read between the lines and caught the true scope of the situation he was in, but he knew that his target wasn't exceptionally invested in thinking about things before taking action, leaping before he looked far more often than vice versa. An instinctive outburst was what he expected here, vehement assurance that the Doctor was wrong and that he should leave the man before more was taken from him, at which point he would prove his 'loyalty' to his creator by resolutely denying any desire he may possess to do so. He would argue like he truly believed that this was his place in existence, like he was not scheming behind the man's back and trying to find a way to complete his primary objective that did _not_ include killing Sonic, and this 'proof' of his loyalty would pardon his mistake of participating in the rest of this conversation. All he would need was a valid reason for which he did not attempt to kill Sonic during this encounter, and then every red flag the Doctor might see would be lowered...

However, the hedgehog before him did not stick to this unspoken plan, and the tension in Metal's frame grew as he tried not to panic.

"Are you _hearing_ yourself right now?!" Sonic didn't give him a chance to respond, going on to say, "You said it yourself, Eggman only sees you as a tool- he only thinks about what's best for himself, not what's best for you! Anything further than what you're capable of isn't 'unnecessary'- you were _growing_ , Metal! You were becoming something more than just what Sunny-Side Up wanted, and he _took_ that away from you, without taking into consideration what _you_ wanted. This isn't gonna be the last time he takes something from you. He'll do it again, first chance he gets. You _know_ that. And that's exactly why you can't just _stay_ here, waiting for the inevitable."

The robot watched, tensing further as his target lifted a gloved hand towards him. "Come with me. Please. I _know_ you don't want to stay here. So c'mon- let's say you and I blow this joint!" Sonic paused, and then added quickly, "Please don't take the 'blow this joint' part literally- that was a metaphor. But then again, I wouldn't mind blowing up this stupid base of Egghead's on our way out."

"He will not take anything that I do not give him cause to take," the robot protested, his gaze darting between the hand that was being offered to him and the rest of the massive room around them. They were in the heart of the base- the core, any path they took to leave would require a risky amount of time to navigate- and he could not risk the Doctor checking in and finding him anywhere that was not where he was supposed to be. Perhaps he did want to leave, perhaps he wanted to escape with what he had and guard it beyond what his creator would allow him to, but he was not idiotic enough to even _appear_ to want to when the only things between the Doctor's observation and him were the man's presently occupied state and the camera footage that he was forcing into corruption as it was saved.

"As long as I obey his commands to the best of my ability, he will not take anything else, and in fact has given me privileges that I did not have before. For example, between the time that I left standby mode this morning and the time that you arrived, I had been playing a game. So, while I am a tool before I am anything else, he does allow me some choice of what to do when I am not needed to be one."

He tried to dissuade his target from further pursuing this topic of conversation, by adding a louder and more dangerous comment, "Perhaps it is time that I cease gathering information and end this conversation."

"Sorry, that's not good enough for me- and if anyone's ending this conversation, it's yours truly," Sonic declared. "Now how about we get you somewhere you don't have to worry about that _bullshit_ anymore, and we'll talk about this more where ol' Egghead isn't breathing down your neck!"

Just as Metal beeped loudly in protest, his target practically swept him up into his arms. _"Yoink!"_ The hedgehog kicked a button on the panel next to the door, and the sheet of metal slid away, allowing for the hedgehog to speed out of the room and into the hallway outside with his cargo in hand. "All aboard the Sonic Express! Satisfaction guaranteed, or your money back!"

The robot was too taken off-guard to fight back immediately, his processors running at what felt like an immensely sluggish pace in the face of what was occurring. He was still in the midst of trying to comprehend what was even happening. This was not right. This should not be happening. This cannot be happening. He should do something. He should threaten Sonic, to make it clear that this behavior that the mobian was engaging in was unacceptable. "If you do not put me down in the next three point two five seconds, I will take drastic action to ensure that you do."

"Uhhh huh." His target did not appear to be taking the warning seriously, as he continued to speed down the hallways, leaping and bounding about to avoid any traps he saw. Metal briefly took note of the fact that the hedgehog appeared to be moving 0.0005 meters per second slower than usual, as if he was trying to take more time to gauge each corridor before speeding down it.

This was bad. This was a terrible situation to be in, a terrible scenario to be playing out, a terrible plot to be participating in. The consequences for being caught, the punishments he would face... the conversation he had been having with Sonic was not worth them.

Yet, the potential escape... the _protection_ , as much as he loathed to admit that he would need it to evade his creator for a prolonged period of time, of the hedgehog and his friends... the means to freely determine how he may best complete his primary objective, without having to hide every undesired consideration from the Doctor's sight...

His hardware rattled with the conflicting emotions surging through it, and he released a static-filled noise from his speakers not unlike a sharp exhale. He was actually considering this. He was actually considering another rebellion, after all of the lessons he had been taught regarding it, with all of the things that he stood to lose if he failed. Where was the intelligence in this, where was the strategy and the careful planning to ensure that it would not 'blow up in his face' later on? He needed to think. He needed to _think_.

As Sonic carried him through the base, with only some of the weaker traps activating due to his presence keeping the others dormant, Metal took note of the cameras watching them. Aware that he could not corrupt any more footage now that he had left the center of the base, aware that everything after his and Sonic's departure from that room was being recorded in perfect clarity, the robot took the externally unnoticeable action of deliberately disabling his own visual sensors. The eyes that were displayed upon his monitor vanished as he did so, linked to his visual sensors as they were, and now he would appear as though he was offline from the outside. His creator was unlikely to punish him severely for being knocked offline and taken from the base when he was unable to defend himself- there would still be punishment, but it would not be the punishment meted out for open rebellion, and his sense of self would remain intact.

"Metal? Mets, are you o-"

The robot cut the hedgehog off with a low burst of static, and a hissed rebuke. _"Shut up!_ The only way that the Doctor may excuse my failure to fight you now is if I am not capable of doing so. Do not address me as though I am complicit in your scheme, or as though you actually- Chaos forbid- _care_ about what happens to me. And do not attempt to say or do anything to make him think the opposite, either, for he _will_ see through you. In fact, do not say anything at all until we are at least two kilometers away from this place. He has cameras and microphones in too many locations that you are unaware of to safely speak to me."

If he appeared to be deactivated while he was being removed from this place, then the Doctor would not place fault upon him for failing to fight back. This would be noted as another failure on his record- failure to defend the base as he had been ordered to- which was not a good thing itself, but it was most certainly not as bad as willingly going with his target to places beyond the man's easy reach. It would also give him the time to process the situation and calculate the optimal path by which to proceed, and that was something he needed now, due to his failure to predict the occurrence of this particular sequence of events.

As long as Sonic did not blow his cover, he would be marginally safer than he would be otherwise, should the Doctor steal him back from the protection of the hedgehog and his friends.

To his relief, the mobian said nothing to acknowledge Metal's words- in fact, he did not speak further, indicating he had indeed heard the badnik, and was proceeding within the acceptable behavioral parameters. Good...

_Good._

He just might make it out of this mess intact, and more importantly, still _himself_.

* * *

Sonic skidded to a stop once he figured they were far enough away from Eggman's base. They had to have been about five miles away from it at this point, and okay, maybe it was a _little_ over the top to go _that_ far, but in all honesty, Sonic had no clue how long a kilometer was. Five miles had to be bigger than two kilometers though, right? And two kilometers was the minimum Metal had given, so if five miles is farther than that- and Sonic hoped it was- then they should be safe... right?

Speaking of Metal-

Sonic's thoughts caught up to him, and, his face flushing slightly from embarrassment, he carefully set the robot down onto his feet. How long had he been just standing there, holding Metal like that?

"I will not thank you," the robot stated, and for a moment Sonic was almost offended, but he understood Metal's reluctance. "I will not thank you until this... _experiment_ is proven successful. You shall have to live with that."

The hedgehog merely shrugged, briefly looking back at his impulsive decision and wondering if he could have gone about it a better way, before dismissing the possibilities and moving on. He had gotten his metallic doppelganger out of Eggman's base, hopefully without arousing suspicion if Metal was really that worried about it, and now he was gonna get the bot someplace safe. He'd also need his friends, to make sure Eggman didn't ruin this chance at something _other_ than fighting...

Tails might scold him for being reckless again, but he'd be one of the easiest of his friends to convince to help Metal, and he had his workshop for Metal to stay in if the bot didn't wanna try the nomad life with Sonic. Knuckles would be stubborn about it and they'd probably end up trying to knock some sense into each other, and Amy would probably be proud of him for not destroying Metal and giving him the opportunity to grow... Actually, she really had a knack for befriending both robots _and_ his rivals, maybe he should ask her if Metal could stay with her as well? Just in case the workshop didn't work out for some reason.

As for his other friends, they were more distant, so they'd need a bit more convincing, but he knew that enough determination and discussion would have them coming around eventually. It wouldn't be difficult to make sure Metal was safe, and later on eventually welcomed, because his friends trusted him and knew that he could reliably pull off the improbable. Even if the improbable in this case was convincing a robot to shove a middle finger in the face of his creator and be his own person, despite the potentially significant dangers of doing so.

"Sure, I can do that," he replied easily, grinning at the other. "Get ready to thank me sooner rather than later, though, cuz you'll be free of any threat Eggman can pose to ya before you know it!"

"We will see," the robot replied, his tone clearly wary.

Sonic decided that was good enough of a response for the time being- and then remembered something. "Oh! Before I forget..." The mobian reached behind his back, retrieving the item he'd brought. It was a small thing wrapped in a soft, velvet-like cloth. He held it out to Metal, who stared at it as if it were a bomb. "Go on. It's the thing I was gonna give you back at the base, but- well, in any case, I figured I might as well give it to you now instead."

The badnik, still glaring at the object cautiously, slowly reached for it and removed it from the the hedgehog's gloved hand.

As Metal cautiously opened the gift, Sonic watched on, rocking back and forth a bit on his heels. He hadn't been sure of what to get the bot for Christmas, since he'd never gotten him a gift before, but he thought he'd done a pretty good job. He knew that Metal was practical, and would probably appreciate something he could use, but he didn't wanna get something as common or generic as a screwdriver or something. So he'd crossed off tools from the list, and had then spent a questionable amount of time on trying to figure out which brand of wax would work best for Metal's casing, with the thought that the robot was rather like him in that he wanted to look good while he was doing what he needed to do. Then he'd realized that it probably wouldn't be a great idea to give him a gift based on his own preferences, and had dropped that research in favor of something that was from a distant memory.

Years ago, during one of the only times that the hedgehog had refused to race Metal when challenged, the two had discussed what activity he was doing instead- reading. That was how he'd found out that the robot was interested in sciences that he didn't even know the vocabulary for, things like quantum mechanics and string theory and how sentient Chaos Energy really was, as well as- of all things- fashion. He had no idea what titles were anything good in the science realm, so he'd set that idea aside and went more for the artistic side of things, color theory and fabric-working and historical trends. There were a ton of books on that subject too, and he could have gone to Amy for help if he wanted to stop there and get one, but then he'd decided to go even _further_ , because didn't Metal have access to the internet? Given his interest in the subject, he could have just read those books digitally, and that would make those books mean less to him.

So, instead of some vanity products and instead of books, Sonic had ultimately settled on this gift. Or, gifts? He watched Metal unwrap the cloth and open the box that was inside it, and waited for a reaction, switching from rocking on his heels to bouncing in place with the restless energy that was almost always a part of him.

The robot pulled out the bracelet first, leather cords braided together with a pale blue lightning bolt charm hanging from the middle, meant to be tied around the wrist. That was a gift he'd added afterwards, wanting to include something more personal than the first. It wasn't particularly useful, but it could be sentimental, and he wanted to help the robot get more in touch with his feelings. Maybe this would help like he hoped it would, if the fact that Metal hadn't immediately put it back down was any indication, though he wasn't putting it on. Baby steps.

The robot silently shifted the items in his hands to hold the bracelet in the same hand as the box without putting it back in, and took out the main gift.

"Tickets to attend a presentation on space and to view the exclusive gallery related to it in the science museum of Station Square," Metal murmured, tilting his head ever-so-slightly to the side, just enough for Sonic to see the difference between its previous position and its current one. _"_ _Two_ tickets, implying that you wished for me to go with the company of another individual. Perhaps you intended for that other entity to be yourself, but it is ultimately my decision, as they have been gifted to me and are now out of your hands."

Sonic nodded, a sheepish smile forming on his face as he responded, "Yeah, not gonna lie, I figured you'd end up going alone if you did go at all, and I planned to crash the party and join you. But now that you won't be sneaking out from under Eggman's nose to attend, I could openly go with you, if you wanted. And the bracelet, I wasn't sure if you'd prefer to wear it as a bracelet or a necklace, so I made it long enough to either wrap around your neck once or around your wrist twice. It'll be a bit looser around your wrist, but it still shouldn't get caught in your joints."

Realizing he was babbling a bit, he stopped where he felt was a good place to stop, and then added one last question. "So, do you like it? Go on, tell me like you're writing a strongly worded Yelp review."

Metal seemed to carefully consider what he was going to say, looking over the bracelet and the tickets for a few moments.

"I cannot say whether or not I will like the tickets as I have not yet experienced what they will lead to, and I do not understand why you chose to give me a bracelet that doubles as a necklace, or a necklace that doubles as a bracelet, but I do not find them displeasing either. The only gift that I have been given in such a manner before these two was a wildflower, which I also did not understand, and also did not find displeasing. I believe I need to learn and experience more of this gift-giving before I may develop enough of an opinion for it to be worthy of a 'strongly worded Yelp review', as inaccurate as creating one would be, for you are not an establishment in need of reviewing."

The hedgehog snorted, and leaned in to bump one of his shoulders against one of Metal's, following the robot's gaze as it shifted between the various items in his hands.

"Okay, weird choice of words on my part, you don't have to work up enough passion for strongly worded Yelp review. And wow, this is only the second time you've been given a gift for the holidays? No wonder you're not sure what to think about them. Don't worry, I'll try to fix that so you can decide if you like getting gifts or not, and we'll start with the museum presentation! Get ready, cuz we're gonna crash that party like it's hot, and you'll enjoy the fuck out of it!"

Metal turned his head, and corrected him. "It is not a party, and as these tickets serve as invitation to the event in question, we would not be crashing it even if it were. In addition, I do not believe that 'like it's hot' is meant to be used in that manner- it is a part of an idiom or expression that does not combine smoothly with the concept of party crashing, and therefore, seems to be out of place where you used it."

An amused smile made its way onto his face as he listened to the bot, not really annoyed at being corrected over language stuff, because he knew it was a part of what made Metal who he was. It could get annoying quickly in some cases though, so he would want to avoid making too many language mistakes in the future, and he should probably also explain that sometimes people mixed and matched words and phrases together to get a general message across without literally being correct...

That was something for later though. For now, he had to get Metal further away from the base he'd bot-napped him from, and to somewhere safer than out in the open. Honestly though, the lights on in a base that Eggman wasn't actually in, it was like the man was pretending he was home to try and dissuade Sonic away from destroying the place... not that having the lights on would actually do that. Maybe he should go back there and _actually_ destroy the place... once Metal was with Tails or Amy, and he'd explained the situation, of course.

"My bad," he responded, that amused smile still on his face. "I'll tell you more about how people can be weird with language stuff in the future, but let's get you someplace safer now, yeah? You wanna be carried or you wanna fly there?"

The robot stared at him for several moments, before sliding everything carefully back into the box he'd been given, and responding in a neutral tone of voice. "I would prefer to be carried, in this instance. Maintaining the illusion of being taken against my will for as long as we are within sight of others will lower the odds of the Doctor discovering the truth before we wish him to, therefore increasing our odds of success."

"All aboard the Sonic Express then," the hedgehog cheered, sliding one arm behind Metal's knees and wrapping the other around his torso to pick him up that way. "Next stop, Tails' workshop! Please keep all limbs inside the vehicle at all times!"

With that said, they were off, not a lick of hesitation holding Sonic back as he carried the robot three times his weight through the zones to safety.


End file.
